


Distant Echoes

by Adorable Blondes (Chloe), bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Category: Chlollie - Fandom, Smallville
Genre: Chlollie, F/M, adorable blondes, distant echoes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-17
Updated: 2010-06-24
Packaged: 2017-11-23 17:10:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 59,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/624570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chloe/pseuds/Adorable%20Blondes, https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian





	1. Chapter 1

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: [](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/profile)[**chloeas**](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/) and [](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/)**dl_greenarrow**  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

**May 14th, 2016**

Chloe ran a hand over her hair and looked at herself in the mirror for a moment then nodded a little at her reflection, reaching to touch the necklace she had on, a small smile on her lips and then she took a deep breath, looking down at her phone as she picked it up from the dresser, "Matthew?" She called even as she slid the phone into her purse and started down the hall, "c'mon Matthew, we're gonna be late, did you pick out the toys you wanted?"

A little blonde boy appeared in the hallway, clutching a small mass of toys in his arms. "These!"

"You'll just be there for a couple hours, honey," Chloe told her son, running her fingers through his hair, then reaching down to take a few toys from him, "but okay, lets go find you a bag so they are easier to carry."

"I wanna take my bow," he said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet and then ducking back into his room.

Chloe sighed softly and followed him into the room, "you need pants before we go anywhere, you know," she placed the toys on his bed and picked up a pair of pants from his dresser, "come here."

He grinned at her, his cheeks dimpling. "Nooo pants," he said giggling as he ducked away from her.

She couldn't help but grin back when he grinned at her, Chloe reached down and picked her son up easily, he was small for a five year old, "oh yeah? You don't wanna go play with aunt Lois?"

Matthew giggled again, wrapping his arms around her neck. "I don't hafta eat there if Aunt Lois cooks, right?"

Grinning, she placed a kiss to his cheek and shook her head, "no, we'll just have to get you some juice and some snacks before we leave," she raised her eyebrows at him then tickled him gently, "but first, we need to get you pants, Mister."

"I want the green ones!" he said, squirming a little when she tickled him.

She smiled a little at that and kissed his cheek again, hugging him to her, if he was anymore like his dad and if she hadn't carried him for nine months, she would have been sure he was a clone of Ollie, "alright," she set him down, "go get them while I pack up your toys."

Matthew hugged her legs for a moment, then dashed off to his dresser, reaching inside to grab his green pants and tugging them on.

Chloe picked up one of his backpacks and gathered the toys inside of them, then picked up his bow and waited for Matthew to be done with his pants before holding it out to him, "here you go, ready? Mia is waiting downstairs."

He took the bow from her. "Why can't I come with you and Aunt Mia?"

"Because Aunt Lois misses you," she told him, taking his hand and picking up the backpack, "and Mia and I are going to be doing boring adult stuff, besides, we won't be long."

"But I just saw Aunt Lois a couple days ago. And I'm not a baby!" he protested.

She paused and knelt down on the floor, looking her son in the eyes, "no, you're a big boy," she told him quietly, cupping his cheek, "and maybe next year you can come with us, but this time, I need you to stay with Aunt Lois okay? I promise I won't be long, baby."

Matthew's lower lip stuck out in a pout, but he sighed. "Okay, Mommy."

Chloe wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer, kissing his temple as she hugged him tightly, "thank you." She took a deep breath and pulled back enough to look at him, "and I want you to decide where you want to go for dinner, okay? We can go anywhere you want after we pick you up."

"McDonalds!" he said immediately, his green eyes lighting up. "Chicken nugget happy meal!"

With a soft smile, she touched the tip of his nose and nodded, "you got it," she told him before standing up and taking his hand again, "lets grab your snacks and go before Mia starts honking at us."

He grinned and walked down the hall with her, and into the kitchen. He tugged on the refrigerator door and managed to get it open so he could reach in and grab an apple and a baggie of animal crackers. He immediately bit into the apple and smiled up at her.

Chloe watched him for a second then took a deep breath, nodding a little and smiling slightly, "let's go."

* * *

Mia sat in the driver's seat of the car, doing her best not to fidget. Her fingers were curled tightly around the steering wheel as she waited, some annoying pop song playing on the radio--and even though it was driving her crazy, she didn't reach up to change it or turn it off. She drew in a breath and let it out slowly, her stomach tight as she caught sight of Chloe and Matthew coming out of the clock tower. She waved at them--well--mostly at Matthew, and forced a smile onto her face. "All ready to go, Kid?" she asked as Chloe opened the door and Matthew climbed into the backseat.

Chloe buckled his seatbelt and kissed his cheek, giving him a soft smile then taking her seat on the passenger's side.

Matthew bounced on his seat and nodded, "and we're going to McDonalds tonight!"

Mia smiled at him and faced forward again, putting the car into gear and then glancing at Chloe sideways. "Sounds like fun."

With a silent sigh, Chloe smiled a little at Mia then settled against the car seat, glancing out of the window as Mia drove them to Lois' new apartment.

* * *

Mia parked the car a little over forty minutes later, slowly turning the key and shutting the engine off. She remained sitting motionless in the driver's seat. "Do you want some time alone first?" She didn't look at Chloe.

Chloe stared blankly ahead towards the gates and shook her head, "no, you can come with me, unless you want me to wait for a while," she offered quietly.

She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Truthfully she didn't want to be there at all. A pang of guilt tugged at her and she reached for the door handle. "No. We can go together."

With a nod, Chloe took a deep breath and got out of the car too, waiting for Mia to meet her in front of the car before starting through the gates of the cemitery. Six times, they had done this five times before, together, and it still hurt as much as the first time had.

Mia's chest was tight and she reached out wordlessly and took Chloe's hand in her own as they walked the familiar path together to the headstone beneath the willow tree. She swallowed hard as she stared down at it.

Chloe squeezed Mia's hand then leaned forward, placing the flowers she had ordered by the headstone, green tinted tulips, it was what she brought him every year. She wanted to bring him a picture of their son, but she knew she would be putting him in danger if she left pictures of him there, where anyone could find it.

Mia watched her, shifting her gaze from the flowers the words on the headstone.

_Oliver Queen_  
October 23, 1984-May 14, 2010  
Beloved friend. 

Chloe adjusted her sunglasses and took a deep breath, another thing she couldn't do in order to protect them was to give him the headstone he deserved, he had died to save them all, to protect them, it was because of _him_ that the war had ended, because of _him_ that Earth hadn't been taken over by the Kandorians, he did what Clark couldn't do and it cost him his life.

It cost them all his life.


	2. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: chloeas and dl_greenarrow  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[Part One.](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html)

**May 14th, 2010**

Chloe pushed the elevator door to the Clock tower open, her eyes wide as she looked around, a panicked look on her face that for once, had nothing to do with the eminent Kandorian invasion, "Oliver?" She called as she looked around their temporary headquarters until they managed to reboot the Watchtower system, "Oliver where are you?"

He stepped out of his secret room, already dressed in his uniform once more, a faint grimace of pain on his face as his leathers rubbed uncomfortably against the brand on his chest. "Right here. We're getting ready."

Her eyes widened at the information, "you're going in too?"

Oliver offered her a faint, reassuring smile, kissing her forehead as he moved past her. "Boy Scout might need backup." He picked up his quiver and slid it onto his back, holding up an arrow tipped with green Kryptonite and showing it to her.

Chloe stood there for a few seconds as he moved away then took a deep breath, "wait," she said, turning to face him, a worried expression on her face.

 

He paused, glancing back at her uncertainly. "Chloe, I'm all right. I'm sore, but I can still shoot."

She shook her head and frowned at him, "Ollie, we have to talk."

His eyebrows furrowed a little at that. "We have a plan, don't worry."

"No," she stepped closer and looked up at him, "this doesn't have anything to do with the Kandorians..."

Oliver met her eyes. "What's it about?"

"Us," she told him quietly, her heart pounding against her chest, she knew this wasn't a good time, but there was no such thing with the lives they led.

"We need to go," Clark interrupted, stepping into the room with his long black coat already on. "We're wasting time."

He glanced at Clark and then back at Chloe. "As soon as I get back," he promised, lifting one hand to touch her cheek. "We'll talk as soon as this is over."

Her eyes stung with tears as she looked up at him, covering his hand with hers, completely ignoring the fact that Clark was there, "be careful," she whispered, she needed him to be careful because now more than ever, she needed _him_.

Oliver's gaze softened at the sight of her tears. "Hey, everything's going to be okay," he whispered, kissing her forehead, and then her mouth.

Chloe kissed him back and held on to his hand tightly for a long moment before pulling back and nodding, "go," she told him quietly.

He gazed at her a second longer, then headed toward the door, pausing and turning to look at her once more. "Chloe?"

She swallowed hard, glancing as Clark entered the elevator impatiently then focused on Oliver again.

"When this is over, I want us to take a trip together. Just you and me." He gazed at her.

Chloe relaxed a little at his words and nodded, smiling slightly, "another reason why I can't wait for us to get rid of them."

"Let's _go_ ," Clark demanded, his jaw tight.

 

Oliver winked at her. "Don't miss me too much. I'll be back before you know it," he promised, stepping onto the elevator.

She kept her eyes on him until he disappeared with the elevator, wrapping her arms around herself for a moment then taking a deep breath and turning back to the tower, sliding her earpiece on, her eyes on the screen as she lifted a protective hand to her stomach, it would all be over soon.

* * *

 

**May 14th, 2016**

Lois stared blankly out her living room window, down over Metropolis. Her chest was tight as she leaned her forehead against the windowpane. Matthew was currently coloring a picture for his mom, crayons spread out all around him as he worked diligently at her coffee table.

Six years.

It had been six years, and some days she still couldn't believe it.

She glanced over her shoulder at the little blonde, swallowing hard and blinking back tears that had appeared before she'd even realized it. She looked back out the window and swallowed hard. She would go and visit the grave by herself, later. After Chloe and Mia went.

She wouldn't see Clark today.

Today he would spend alone, off somewhere where no one could find him.

It was what he did every year on this date.

Rubbing a hand over her face tiredly, she drew in a breath as she heard the knock on the door. Raking a hand through her hair, she cast another glance at Matthew, who didn't even look up at the sound. She moved over to the door and pulled it open, not entirely surprised to see Bart and A.C. there. "Hey, guys." Her voice was quiet and she stepped aside to let them in.

"Hey," Bart said as he stepped inside, giving Lois a quick smile then brightening when he saw Matthew was there too, "hey, dude, what's up?"

"Uncle Bart!" Matthew's eyes lit up and he grinned.

A.C. smiled faintly at Lois, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Hey." He stepped inside behind the apartment behind Bart. "Place looks good, Lois."

"Thanks," Lois said with a small smile in return.

Bart moved over to where Matthew was sitting and smiled at him, "what you got there, man?"

"We stopped by the Clock tower but Chloe wasn't there," A.C. explained to Lois, "figured we'd try here."

She nodded slightly at that. "She and Mia went..." Her voice trailed off and she met the man's gaze before glancing over her shoulder at Matthew. "You know where."

"I'm coloring a picture for Mommy," Matthew explained.

"That's awesome, I bet she's gonna love that," Bart told the kid he could only think of as his nephew and rubbed his hand over his hair, it was almost creepy how much the little boy looked like his dad.

A.C. nodded and slid his hands into his pocket, "mind if we hang out here for a while?"

"Yeah, sure. There's bottled water in the fridge and...leftover pizza," she said, glancing at Bart. She'd been let in on the secret shortly after Ollie had died, and it had just about blown her mind. Finding out that her cousin and her ex-boyfriend and her current boyfriend were all involved in a club of superheros had changed her entire life. It had taken awhile to process everything, but once she had, suddenly so many other things had fallen into place, things she'd missed over the years. Things that hadn't made sense at the time. And now, all these years later, she'd come to think of those same group members as extended family.

And she wasn't surprised when A.C. and Bart had shown up. She figured it was only a matter of time before Victor and Dinah showed their faces, as well. It was one of the few times they all drifted together and to Metropolis--with one notable exception--unless there was some kind of crisis.

"Thanks," he told her, glancing at Bart and Matthew too, he and Bart had been to the cemetery that morning, after they made sure Chloe and Mia weren't there so they wouldn't interrupt their time. Oliver's death had been hard on all of them, but it had been the worst on Chloe and Mia. For a long time they didn't even know about Chloe's pregnancy, but a couple of months later, it made sense why she was making such a big effort to take care of herself when everyone just expected her to be a huge mess, considering she had lost Jimmy to another Kryptonian monster just a year before she lost Oliver to Zod.

She nodded slightly, winding her arms around herself and moving to sit down on the sofa. "How's it going, Bart?" she asked, offering Matthew a small smile.

Bart over at Lois and shrugged, "you know, the same," it wasn't a good day for him to answer that question, "saw your article yesterday, it was pretty awesome."

 

She managed to muster a small smile for that. "Thanks." Her voice was quiet, her gaze drifting back to Matthew for a moment. Then she swallowed hard and rose to her feet. "Can you keep an eye on him for a minute?" Her voice was a little tighter than usual.

"Yeah, definitely," Bart said, a little relieved, at least with Matthew he didn't have to look at the sad look on everyone else's face.

"Thanks." She headed down the hallway, barely making it to the bathroom and shutting the door before she began to cry.

* * *

Chloe and Mia made their way back to Lois' apartment a few hours later, once they both felt like they were ready to face Matthew for a few more hours before his bedtime. Chloe looked at Mia for a moment and gave her hand a soft squeeze before reaching to knock on the door and opening it without waiting for an answer, "Lo?" She called, letting herself in.

A.C. turned from where he was sitting on the sofa with Bart and Matthew and Lois and offered her a smile as he rose to his feet. "Hey."

Mia hung back toward the door. Over the years various members of the league had tried to integrate her into the club, tried to make her feel more at home, but she wasn't about to let herself get close to another hero type. Not when she knew full well they would all end up with the same fate as Oliver.

"Hey," Chloe smiled slightly, "didn't expect to see you guys here," but she was glad they had been keeping Lois company.

"Mom!" Matthew called, getting up and running toward her with a piece of paper he had picked up from the coffee table, "I made you a picture!"

Lois rose to her feet, moving over to give her cousin a hug before stepping back to let Matthew show off his work. "I made coffee--want some?"

Chloe gave Lois a quick hug, noticing how red her eyes were and looking at her cousin for a moment longer before nodding, "coffee would be great, thanks, Lo," she told her quietly before kneeling down and smiling softly at Matthew as she took the picture, "that's a really good one, baby, thank you."

Mia shifted uncomfortably, reaching up to rub the back of her neck. "I think I'm gonna go for a walk," she said to no one in particular. If Chloe was having coffee, she was intending to stay at least for a little while, and Mia really didn't want to be around anyone else right then. "Give me a call whenever you're ready." She quickly slipped out the door without waiting for a response.

With a soft sigh, Chloe glanced toward the door then stood up, "go sit down with the boys and we'll be ready to go in a minute, okay?" Chloe kissed her son's cheek then watched him run back to Bart and A.C., she gave the boys a soft smile before slipping into the kitchen after her cousin.

Lois poured Chloe a cup of coffee and stirred a stream of sugar into it before turning and handing it to her. "There you go." She paused for a moment. "How are you doing?"

Pursing her lips together, Chloe shrugged a little, "ask me again in a few days?" She gave her cousin a sad smile as she took the coffee, "what about you?"

"I'm fine," she said quickly, then looked down for a moment. "Okay, not fine. Ask me again in a few days, too." She forced a smile.

Chloe sipped on the coffee and nodded a little, taking a deep breath, "are you gonna go see him?"

Lois shifted uncomfortably, wrapping her arms around herself. "Yeah."

"Come by after?" Chloe asked quietly, placing her free hand over her cousin's arm, "spend the night?" She normally would prefer to be alone, to talk to him like she did every night since she lost him, but she knew Clark wouldn't be there for Lois, that every year on this day he took his selfish, guilt-filled trip up north and left them to deal with things on their own.

 

"Are you sure?" Lois looked at her uncertainly. "I mean, will Mia be okay with it?"

"You're not the one who makes Mia uncomfortable, Lo," Chloe reminded her in a very quiet voice.

She shifted from one foot to the other, looking down at the floor for a moment. "All right, I'll come over. I could uh--I could bring some ice cream, some movies?" Not that they'd get anything out of any movies they'd watch, but maybe the background noise would at least help distract them a little.

"Yeah," Chloe nodded a little and gave her cousin's arm a soft squeeze before sipping on her coffee, "I should go find Mia and get Matt some food, I'll see you later."

"All right." She waited until her cousin had put the mug down before she wound her arms around her in a tight hug.

Closing her eyes, Chloe hugged Lois tightly back, "have the boys come see him with you? It's getting late and I don't want you walking around on your own."

"Sure thing," Lois promised, hugging her a little tighter. "See you soon."


	3. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: [](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/profile)[**chloeas**](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/) and [](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/profile)[**dl_greenarrow**](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/)  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[Chapter 1](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html) \- [Chapter 2](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/672384.html)

**May 14th, 2010**

"Arrow, what's your status?" Watchtower demanded into her communicator as her eyes traveled across the screen, she couldn't find the green dot anywhere and he had been there moments before, " _Arrow_ ," she called again, her voice firmer. Clark and Oliver had managed to drag the Kandorians to a more isolated area of Kansas and the fight was currently happening in an abandoned factory, far from any major city to avoid innocent civilians getting caught in the middle of IT.

"I'm here," he answered a moment later, grunting involuntarily as he struggled to stand up. "We've gotten most of them rounded up, Watchtower." He looked around the warehouse, breathing heavily. "Looking for the leader of the pack."

"You're hurt," her jaw tightened, she could tell by his breathing that he was in pain, "Arrow stand back, you're hurt."

"I'm all right," he told her, moving across the suspended walkway above the floor of the warehouse. He paused, catching sight of a speeding figure moving down below and then vanishing from view. "I saw something. I don't know if it was Boy Scout or Zod." He gripped onto the railing.

"It wasn't Boy Scout," Chloe informed him, she could see Clark's blue dot on the outside of the building, her stomach turning, "he's outside."

"Is he in trouble?" Oliver asked immediately, glancing toward the doors down below, and then up to the ceiling. No exit point there.

Chloe switched channels quickly, "Boy Scout, what's your status?"

"They're all rounded up except one. I'm going back in," Clark said, his voice filled with determination.

She quickly switched back, "Boy Scout is going back in, Arrow, stand back," she pleaded again, "we're down to the leader."

"All right. Stepping out for this one," he told her, backing away from the rail as he caught sight of Clark speeding in.

Chloe closed her eyes and sighed in relief as she heard him, activating the heatwave satellite view and she saw two dots, warmer than usual, which she knew was a characteristic of Kryptonians, circling each other not far from the one human dot, "Arrow, move quickly, this it about to get ugly."

"On my way out, Watchtower," he responded, moving for the stairs.

* * *

**May 14th, 2016**

Lois lay on the opposite side of Chloe's bed from where her cousin was, staring blankly up at the ceiling. She could tell by Chloe's breathing that she was just as wide awake as Lois was. Mia and Matthew had gone to bed hours before, but the cousins had remained up, talking about nothing and everything the way they had since they were little girls. "I hate this whole month." Her voice was quiet.

"Me too," Chloe said quietly, taking a deep breath and glancing at the clock, it was past two in the morning and she had no plans to sleep, "you'd think it would have gotten better after six years."

"But it hasn't, has it?" she whispered. "Do you think sometimes...maybe there are just wounds that don't heal?"

"No, it hasn't," Chloe admitted, her voice getting a little choked up, "I guess maybe some don't," of course it didn't help that they had never found his body, that the only thing laying inside Oliver's coffin was a picture of him, she hadn't even been able to bury his bow and quiver like she wanted to, in case someone came across it.

"I'm sorry. I'm not helping, am I?" She shifted onto her side so she was facing Chloe. She reached out and took her cousin's hand.

Chloe linked her fingers with Lois' and shook her head, "it's the truth, Lo," she said brokenly, "I still miss him every day, sometimes I feel like crying just because I look at Matthew and his expression is so much like Ollie's, I think I scare him sometimes... and the older he gets, the worst it will be because he will start asking more questions... and... the memories will just never go away. Not that I want them to." But the constant reminders made the wounds stay fresh.

Lois felt her eyes growing warm with tears for what seemed like the hundredth time that day and she swallowed hard. "I know." She forced herself to take a breath, squeezing Chloe's hand gently. "I know," she echoed.

"And I can't help but wonder if I had told him before... if he would have been more careful," Chloe said in a whisper, she had told Lois this thousands of times before, but she still wondered. Everything about his death, every single thing was an open end. There was absolutely no closure, no comfort, no reassurance, only questions and doubts and what ifs and she had been playing the different scenarios in her head over and over again for six years, and she knew it changed nothing, but she couldn't help herself.

"Chlo...you can't keep doing that to yourself," she whispered back, a tear trickling down her cheek and blurring into the pillow beneath her head. "Ollie wouldn't want you to do that." She was quiet for a moment. "And if he hadn't have done what he did..." Her voice trailed off and she shut her eyes.

"I know," Chloe took a deep, shaky breath, quiet for a long time, her voice barely a whisper when she spoke again, "the one thing he wanted the most in his life was a family... it's... it's not fair."

Lois bit down on her lower lip and shifted closer, wrapping her arm around Chloe protectively. "I know it's not. I don't understand it either."

Chloe curled in on her cousin and wrapped an arm around Lois' arm, closing her eyes tightly.

"I love you," she whispered. "Try to get some rest."

"I love you too," Chloe murmured, tears running down her cheek as she held on to Lois' arm.

* * *

Clark hadn't left to the Fortress this year like he usually did, he had gone over the world, saving up to three people per second, saving as many as he could, trying to make up for the life he had lost six years ago today, even though he knew he could never make up for what he did and he knew he would never be forgiven for what happened.

Once he got tired, he flew to the top of the old Watchtower and sat down. Although he tried not to, he couldn't help but listen to Chloe and Lois as they talked. He and Chloe hadn't really spoken in the past few years, aside from being social to each other in front of Lois and Matthew, he knew she didn't want him around the boy, that she blamed him for what had happened and he couldn't really blame her.

Her words from the last time they really spoke, after Oliver's death still echoed through his head. One of the bad sides of his heritage was that he never forgot anything, it was in his memory as if it had just happened five minutes ago and every time he thought of their conversation, his mind replayed what had happened in that abandoned factory and what he could have done different to save Oliver...

* * *

**May 14th, 2010**

Oliver was halfway down the metal staircase when he caught sight of something in Clark's hand. His eyebrows furrowed a little and pressed the button on the communicator device. "Watchtower, come in." His voice was quiet.

"What is it, Arrow?" Chloe asked, her eyes widening when she saw his dot stopping on the screen, "keep moving."

"What does the blue kind do?" he asked uncertainly, watching the two super-powered beings struggle for control over the shard.

It took her a second to understand what Oliver was talking about and then her heart stopped, "it strips them of their powers, Oliver, who has it?" She asked, codename forgotten, if Zod took Clark's powers, they were in big trouble.

"I can't tell," he admitted, pulling an arrow from his quiver. "Stand by."

She could tell her was moving, but he was still on the same spot, "what are you doing?"

"Preparing to finish this once and for all," he said quietly, drawing his bow back.

Her eyes widened at that, "be careful, he probably heard you!" Chloe said urgently, but kept her voice low.

Oliver's eyes focused on Zod's form just as he managed to grab the blue Kryptonite from Clark. His jaw tightened and he took aim, just barely realizing that Zod's eyes had also locked on _him_. He felt his heart begin to pound more heavily against his chest and without further hesitation, he sent the arrow flying right toward the Kandorian's heart.

Chloe stilled as she saw all three people in the room still completely, "Arrow, what's going on?" Her eyes widened as she saw one of the Kryptonians starting to move, she couldn't tell which was which, "Ollie, what happened?"

He heard Chloe's question in his ear but didn't get the chance to respond as a sudden loud explosion rocked the entire warehouse.

And then everything went dark.

"Ollie?" Her stomach clenched when the entire screen became a red, orange blob, the heat in the factory had just intensified by thousands, "Ollie!" She called into the communicator even as the screen started flashing messages, letting her know communication to Green Arrow and Boy Scout had been lost, "Ollie, answer me!"

But all she got was dead silence.

* * *

**May 15th, 2016**

Mia leaned against the railing on the balcony of the clock tower, staring blankly out over the city. She knew she should be getting ready to get out there and patrol, but she just wasn't in the mood for it. Not tonight. Not the night before either. She sighed softly and pushed herself away from the rail. It didn't matter if she was in the mood for it or not, she reminded herself. It wouldn't have mattered to Ollie if he'd been there. He still would have gone out there and helped as many people as he could, and she would do the same thing. She paused as she spotted Chloe lingering in the doorway. "Hey."

"Hey," Chloe greeted quietly then stepped outside to the balcony too, "staying in tonight?"

She shook her head a little. "No, I was just coming in to get ready actually."

With a deep breath, Chloe nodded slightly, "how are you doing?" She asked the younger woman quietly, studying her. After Ollie died, Chloe had almost lost Mia too. Not because she had almost died, but because she almost ran away. They had only met a handful of times before everything happened but it was at Ollie's funeral that Chloe realized Mia was hurting as most as she was, it took them months to get to a point where they really trusted each other, and were comfortable around the other, but after Matthew was born, the three of them really became more like a family, Mia had helped Chloe raise him more than anyone else and the three of them had been living together in the clock tower since the funeral, Chloe felt like she wanted to be close to Matthew because he was the one connection they all had to Oliver.

Mia shrugged a little, not quite meeting Chloe's eyes. "I guess." She was silent for a moment. "I keep thinking it should get easier, but it doesn't."

"I feel the same way," Chloe admitted, stepping closer and rubbing a hand over Mia's arm gently.

She ducked her head, her dark hair curtaining her face. "I keep thinking I should have been there. You know, to help. Maybe if I'd been there, things would have been different."

"Then I would have lost both of you," Chloe said quietly, squeezing Mia's upper arm and looking sadly at her.

"You didn't really know me then," Mia pointed out.

"No," Chloe agreed and took a deep breath, "but you helped me immensely through all of this."

"Yeah, well. It was the least I could do, considering." She looked away.

"And Ollie would have been grateful that you helped me," Chloe whispered, "and that you helped me take care of him."

Mia wrapped her arms around herself. "I know." Her chest felt too tight, like she couldn't breathe.

"Come here," Chloe said quietly, wrapping her arms around Mia gently.

Her eyes burned with tears, but she blinked them back, determined not to cry even as she reluctantly hugged Chloe in return. "I'm all right."

"I know how it feels, Mia," she told the younger woman quietly, "you know you don't have to be brave for me," even after all this time, Mia still had problems opening up to Chloe sometimes, not that she blamed her, considering the life she had had, but Mia had become almost a younger sister to her, Chloe felt the need to take care of her but she knew Mia was there to support her too whenever she needed.

"I have to be brave for myself," she answered just as quietly. "And for Matthew. And for all the people out there that need help." She was quiet for a moment. "Will you be all right here tonight?" There was a hint of uncertainty in her tone.

Sighing deeply, Chloe nodded, watching Mia for a moment, much like Ollie, she knew that patrolling was therapy for her, "I'll go set up and be online if you need assistance," Chloe paused, "maybe make it a short patrol tonight?" Chloe suggested quietly.

Mia couldn't disagree with that particular suggestion. She was tired, drained from the last few days. "Yeah. I will." She forced a small smile, then ducked into the penthouse apartment, heading to the secret room hidden behind the bookcases. She hit the button and waited for the doors to slide open, then she stepped inside. Her uniform was simple--red leather with a yellow hood, and glasses like the ones Oliver used to use. She paused, looking at the spare suit that still hung there after all this time. She reached out and touched the leather for a moment, her chest tightening once more.

Then she shook her head, her jaw tightening. She didn't have time for this. Not then. She needed to get out there and patrol.

It was her job now.

* * *

**May 15th, 2010**

Chloe had no idea how long she had been sitting there, on the floor, curled into herself, her arms protectively wrapped around her stomach, at some point, she had stopped sobbing, between watching as the fire was extinguished and only one of dots moved, one of the _kryptonian_ dots moved. She knew what had happened, she knew she had lost him.

She had lost him and she had never told him they were going to have a baby. She had never told him she loved him.

It wasn't until the elevator doors opened behind her that she blinked, but she didn't moved, she didn't want to because moving or talking or doing anything would make it real.

Clark's expression was one of guilt, of regret. "Chloe." His voice was barely audible.

When she heard his voice, all Chloe could do was close her eyes and wrap her arms around herself tighter, she didn't want to hear it.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "Chloe, Oliver's--"

"No," she whispered, hiding her face on her knees. It was happening again, after one year it was happening again, and she couldn't handle it, not under these circumstances.

"He saved my life. He saved all of us." He swallowed hard, moving closer. "Zod's...he killed him."

She didn't realize she was crying again until a sob broke through her, her arms tightening around her stomach even more.

"There was no time. Everything just--everything happened so fast, Chloe. The building..."

All she wanted to do was tell him to shut up, to leave her alone, but she couldn't find it in herself to talk.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, hesitantly moving closer to her, his coat singed with soot and smoke.

Chloe could smell him, the smell of smoke, or burning, it pulled her closer to reality, to the fact that Ollie had just been burned alive. She wanted to be sick.

"Talk to me." Clark's voice was strained.

She couldn't, she didn't want to talk to him, she wanted Ollie to be the one coming home.

He leaned down, crouching beside her and putting his hands on her shoulders. "Chloe."

Chloe winced away from his touch, sobbing harder when he touched her.

He started to say something else when he heard a sound--something that sounded like it was in the distance, but it wasn't. It was a heartbeat. Not his. Not Chloe's. But another. Much fainter, but fast. He sucked in a breath. "You're..."

She stilled completely, arms still tight around her stomach, although she wasn't fully aware of it, in the back of her mind, she knew what had happened, she knew what Clark had heard.

"My God. You're _pregnant_?"

Chloe closed her eyes tightly, lowering her head, "I need him," she managed, her voice breaking as she sobbed dryly.

He backed away a little. "I can't believe he did this to you."

Her eyes widened at his words and she finally turned to stare at him.

"He never should have come along! He should have stayed here, with you."

"He didn't know!" Chloe's voice was so loud, so powerful, she didn't know where it came from, "you rushed him, you didn't let me tell him!"

Clark flinched at that. "I didn't know either!"

She pushed herself to a standing position, her entire body shaking with anger all of the sudden, "this was your war and _you_ asked for his help! You were supposed to protect him, to bring him back safely!"

"I did the best I could, Chloe!"

"No, you didn't!" She stepped forward, hands clenching into fists, "you didn't do what you had to, you didn't let _us_ do what had to be done while we could still do it and now it's too late!"

He took another step back from her, eyes wide as he stared at her in shock. "That's not true."

"Like hell it isn't! Zod should have been killed months ago, long before he had powers, all of them should have _died_ ," Chloe said harshly, another dry sob breaking through her, " we waited, you wanted us to! And now Ollie is gone, because you couldn't kill Zod when you had a chance!"

"Because murder is _never_ the answer, Chloe! I'm not a killer!" This time his voice was harsh, as well.

"You're a coward!" She screamed, her voice shaking with anger, "and because you can't clean up your own mess, my baby is going to grow up without a father, because of _you_ Oliver will never get to meet his family, because of _you_ , I lost another person I loved!"

There was a soft gasp from the elevator and Clark turned to see a dark-haired young woman standing there. He blinked a couple of times, trying to recall her name, but nothing came to mind.

Chloe stilled completely once more and turned to look at the elevator, her eyes wide, "Mia," she whispered, barely able to breath, she was so angry, so overwhelmed, her head was spinning.

"He's dead?" Her voice was choked.

Swallowing hard, Chloe took a couple steps forward and nodded.

Clark stood frozen to the spot, barely aware as the younger girl quickly closed the elevator door once more.

"Mia, wait," Chloe stepped forward, trying to stop her but watching as the elevator moved away from the floor instead.

"Let her go." Clark swallowed hard.

The sound of Clark's voice brought Chloe's anger back full on and when she turned to face him again, she was breathing hard, her eyes dark, "get out," her voice was low, dangerous, "get out and stay the hell away from my family."

He stared at her. "Chloe, you don't mean that."

Her jaw was so tight, she was surprising her teeth weren't craking. Chloe moved past him, into the secret closet Oliver kept his gear in and came back out, holding one of the kryptonite knives they had made weeks prior toward her former best friend, " _Get. Out_."

Almost instantly nausea swept over him and he doubled over. "Chloe...don't...do this."

"Now!" She yelled loudly, her hand shaking with anger as she held the knife up in his direction, tears streaming down her face.

He moved away from her, toward the elevator, one arm wrapped around his middle. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Once the elevator door closed, she threw the knife with all the strength she could master against it, then collapsed tiredly to the floor, her entire body shaking with anger as she curled up, hiding her face on her knees as she started to cry harder again.


	4. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: chloeas and dl_greenarrow  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[One](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html) | [Two](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/672384.html) | [Three](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/678875.html)

**May 30th, 2016**

After dropping Matthew off at school, Chloe made her way to Queen Industries for her semi-monthly meeting with Tess. According to Ollie's will, all of his assets were left to Chloe, Mia, Bart, A.C., Victor, Lois and Dinah, including the ownership of his company. When the team found out Chloe was pregnant, although they agreed to split the money, they felt like the company should be Matthew's heritage, through Chloe and eventually, Chloe accepted her role.

She didn't manage any of the business, Tess Mercer did. For all she had done, Tess was a good business woman and Chloe had far too much to deal with back then to think about that too, so as CEO of LuthorCorp, she also took charge of Queen Industries, and with time, Chloe started getting more involved and requiring updates from Tess, to make sure her son's monetary future was secured and all that Ollie and his parents had worked for was safe, which was when they set up this schedule.

Chloe walked into the office that used to be Ollie's and now belonged to her if she ever chose to come into the company and do work, and waited for Tess as she went over the reports that had been carefully laid on the desk for her the night before. She had canceled the last meeting, which was supposed to take place on May 15th, due to the date, but Tess had been expecting that, she always canceled that one meeting in the year.

 

Tess walked into the office at exactly 11:30, giving her a brief nod. "Chloe," she greeted.

"Tess," Chloe greeted back, sitting up on the chair and leaning forward to place her arms over the table, "I just finished going over the reports."

She seated herself in the chair across from Chloe's desk. "Didn't take you long," she observed casually.

"I got here earlier than usual," Chloe said, a soft smile on her face, now that the school year was almost over, Matthew was actually enjoying going to school and wasn't putting up a fuss to leave the car in the mornings anymore.

Tess cocked her head to the side, studying her for a long moment. "Well, then, let's get down to business. Any questions on the reports?"

"No," Chloe told her, "seems like not much has changed in the past month."

"It hasn't," Tess confirmed. "Things are holding steady."

"You're doing a good job," Chloe said with a nod, her compliment sincere, "you said in your email that there was something else you wanted to discuss?"

"I did." She studied Chloe for a moment. "There's some business that's come up in Star City that will need attending to. I can't go. I thought you might want the opportunity."

That made Chloe pause, Star City was always a strange experience for her, she had never been there with Ollie while he was alive, but she had been a couple of times in the past few years for business purposes and yet, every corner of the city reminded her of him, the name Queen was still everywhere and people still seemed to celebrate him for everything he had done for the city, "what kind of business?"

"A charity event for the children's ward of Star City General." She paused for a moment. "The Queen's have always been the biggest contributers." Her voice grew a little quieter, a little more guarded.

Chloe took a deep breath and looked down at the files for a moment, "when is it?"

"June 24th," Tess answered, studying her. "There's a lot of planning to be done in a short amount of time, but if anyone besides me is capable of pulling it off, I'm sure it's you." The compliment was sincere on her part, as well.

Being on the receiving end of a compliment from Tess still made Chloe raise an eyebrow every now and then, but she leaned to just take them and go with it, she wouldn't trust the other woman with much more than business, but she respected her and she now understood her and her motives a lot better than she had in the past.

With a nod, Chloe sat up, "Matthew's summer vacation starts next week so I should be able to bring him and Mia with me."

Tess' expression softened just a little at the mention of Chloe's son. "How is Matthew?"

"He's good," Chloe said with a nod then took a deep breath, "looking more and more like his dad every day."

Her eyes cut down to the desk between them. "God help us all."

Chloe actually smiled a little at that, "he carries his bow everywhere too, I don't know if I should be proud or worried."

A faint smile touched the red-head's lips at that. "If I were you? Probably both."

"That's pretty much how I feel," she agreed with a nod, her smile spreading a little more as she gazed at the desk too, she knew what Ollie's response to Matthew's interest would be, he would be gloating about it at every chance he got, saying Matthew had a natural talent and should be encouraged.

Tess smiled a bit more, as well, then faded. "Well, do you have anymore questions? Or should I simply forward you all the information I have on the last charity event?" She straightened in her seat.

"Email me everything and once I go over it, I might have questions, but I think we're okay for today," Chloe said, her smile fading too as she got back into business mode.

"All right." Tess rose to her feet and drew in a breath as she headed for the door, her chest tighter than usual, as it normally was every time she saw Chloe or thought about Matthew or Oliver.

Chloe watched as Tess walked out of the room and waited until the door closed behind her to sigh deeply, rubbing her hands over her face before starting to gather the files to make her way out, Matthew had been only two the last and only time he had been in Star City, she wondered how he would like it now that he was older.

* * *

**September 16, 2010**

Tess Mercer made her way into the elevator at the Metropolis clock tower, a file folder tucked neatly under hear arm. Her jaw was set with determination. She hadn't seen Chloe Sullivan since the day the two of them had been trapped together in what the blonde had called the Watchtower. And she wasn't exactly looking forward to the reunion, but it had to be done. Business required it. She was still slightly shocked that Oliver had left his company in the hands of individuals who knew nothing about how to run a business, but then he always did have a way of surprising her when she least expected it.

She pressed the button for the penthouse suite and waited, looking up at the camera with a neutral expression. No doubt she was being watched.

And she was being watched, Chloe frowned when she saw the woman making her way to the top with a folder in her hand instead of a gun, but Chloe wasn't going to take any chances, she got up with a little difficulty, she was almost seven months pregnant now and her baby bump was getting bigger and heavier every day. She walked into Oliver's secret closet and took a gun out, waiting for the other woman to step into the Clock tower.

Tess stepped off the elevator and looked around, startled when she found the gun pointing directly at her. "You should've learned not to point toys you can't handle, Chl..." Her voice trailed off as she caught sight of the blonde and really looked at her. Her eyes widened in shock.

Well, Chloe had the surprise factor on her side, so she adjusted the gun in her hand, but didn't lower it, "what are you doing here?"

The redhead stared at her for a long, silent moment, her gaze locked on the blonde's stomach. "You're pregnant."

"Ten points for keen observation skills," Chloe said tightly, her eyes narrowing, she wouldn't have felt so threatened by Tess' presence if she didn't feel the need to protect her baby, but that clearly wasn't the case.

 

It took her a full moment longer to recover from the shock and find her voice again. She made no move to get closer to the woman. "How far along are you?"

"Twenty-four weeks," Chloe answered, not moving as she studied Tess, it didn't look like the woman was armed at all, but she wouldn't take chances.

"Oliver's," she murmured, her expression clouding with mixed emotions.

After a moment, Chloe lowered the gun, now that Tess had reached that conclusion, Chloe didn't think she was as big a threat, but she still held on to the gun tightly, "so smart," she said defensively.

 

Tess was silent for a moment, then she pulled the folder out from beneath her arm. "There are some papers you need to go over. He left nearly everything to you and your secret club."

Chloe considered Tess for a moment then stepped closer, holding out a hand for the folder, "I know he did."

She held it out wordlessly, watching Chloe right back. "I was beginning to think it an unwise move on his part considering the lot of you have failed to do anything with his company."

"But now you changed your mind?" Chloe asked with a roll of her eyes, opening the folder after placing the gun on the desk behind her, away from Tess.

"Now I see at least one of you has been busy," she responded, folding her arms across her chest.

"The others aren't interested in the company," Chloe informed her, "they have more important things to worry about."

Tess was silent for a moment. "Clearly so do you."

Chloe closed the folder and frowned at Tess, "yes, I do and clearly you're more interest in the fact that I'm having Ollie's baby then in the reason you came in here for in the first place."

 

"It is...unexpected," she said carefully.

With a deep breath, Chloe looked away and nodded, "yes, it is."

 

She watched Chloe for a few seconds, then exhaled slowly. "Has everything been all right so far?"

Chloe stopped at the question then frowned, looking back at Tess, "with my pregnancy?"

"Yes," Tess answered, studying her.

She eyed Tess suspiciously and placed her free hand over her stomach protectively, "yes, he's healthy."

The blonde's words caught her off guard once more and she felt her chest tighten. "Good." Tess hesitated a moment, then moved back toward the elevator. "Go over the files when you have time. If you have any questions, feel free to call or email me."

Chloe looked down at the folder and took a deep breath, before looking at Tess again, "are you taking care of the company?"

"Yes," she said simply, looking back at Chloe, as well. "I have it under control."

With a nod, Chloe held Tess' gaze, "I'll give this back to you soon."

"Take your time." She paused as she went to shut the gate on the elevator. "And take care of yourself." Without waiting for a response, she pulled the gate down quickly.


	5. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: [](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/profile)[**chloeas**](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/) and [](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/profile)[**dl_greenarrow**](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/)  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[Chapter 1](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html) \- [Chapter 2](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/672384.html) \- [Chapter 3](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/678875.html) \- [Chapter 4](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/684594.html)

**June 7th, 2016**

Mia sat on the sofa in the living room, one leg curled beneath her as she read the morning's copy of the Daily Planet. She smiled a bit at Lois' new front page story, but the smile faded as she realized the byline had Clark's name on it as well.

She set the paper down, rubbing her hands over her face tiredly. She'd been out late the last couple of nights, and had managed to stop three muggings, an attempted rape, and a car hijacking.

The last one she'd run into Clark during.

"Aunt Mia?" Matthew called, stepping into the living room, bow in his hand and a pout on his face.

She looked up, raising an eyebrow at the pout. It was an expression she was used to seeing. And it was the exact same pout that Oliver used to have when you told him something he didn't want to hear. A smile tugged at her lips involuntarily. "What is it, Kiddo?"

"I broke my bow," he said sadly, walking over to the couch and holding it out to her, showing where the string was no longer connected to both ends of the arc.

"Oh," she said, taking it from him and examining it for a moment. "Oh, hey, it's not broken. It just came undone."

He climbed up on the couch and watched her curiously, "can you fix it?" He asked hopefully.

"Yeah, of course. I'll show you how." She reached out and ruffled his hair lightly.

"Cool!" He exclaimed, grinning up at her, "you're the best!"

Mia couldn't help but smile back at the familiar, toothy and dimpled grin. "Yeah, well. Remember that," she teased him, showing him how to fix the string and then undoing it once more so he could try it himself. People tended to learn faster and easier with hands on experience. And she would know.

Matthew looked at her then took the bow, concentrating as he tried to do the same thing she had just done to it, "like this?" he showed it to her after a moment.

"Just like that," she said with a slight nod. "You're a fast learner."

He grinned brightly up at her, "now we can play!"

Mia leaned over and kissed his forehead. "Sure we can."

Matthew hugged her and slid down from the couch, "I'll get the arrows!"

"All right," she agreed, rising to her feet and watching him go. She couldn't believe how old he was already. It seemed like just yesterday...

* * *

**December 2, 2010**

Mia was only half-asleep on the sofa when she felt someone shaking her. "'s Saturday," she mumbled. "Not time to get up yet."

"Mia, wake up," Chloe breathed, shaking her again as she supported herself on the couch.

Her eyebrows furrowed at the sound of Chloe's voice. "Chloe?"

Chloe sighed in relief for just a second then bend over, groaning in pain and holding on to her stomach for a long moment, "my water broke," she managed to say finally, "hospital."

Now she was wide awake, sitting up quickly, her eyes wide. "What? It's not time yet! It's too soon!"

"I know," almost a whole month early, "hurry."

"I'll get your bag and call Lois on my way to the..." She paused. Crap. Chloe was going to need help getting down _to_ the car. "I'm calling Bart." Because the kid could be there in a flash. Literally.

She breathed, as much as she wanted to sit down, she knew it would make it worse, "okay," Chloe agreed, rubbing her stomach as she tried to stand up straight, "and you and Lo will be there soon, right?" Because as much as she didn't want to admit in the past few months, she was scared.

"We're your labor coaches, of course we'll be there," she said quickly, dialing Bart's number. "It's Mia. Get to the clock tower. Yesterday." She didn't wait for a response before hanging up. She really didn't do pleasantries.

Chloe swallowed and and started pacing slowly, blinking when the strong wind hit her and she found Bart standing there.

"What's going on?" He asked with wide eyes, still wearing pajamas.

"Her water broke, she needs to get the hospital now. Can you do that?" Mia had already grabbed Chloe's hospital bag, which she'd had prepared since then end of September. Just in case.

Bart's eyes widened and he looked at Chloe, "you mean... you're having the baby?"

"Yes, Bart, hurry," Chloe told him, her eyes just as wide and next thing she knew, they were moving.

* * *

About five hours later, Chloe was holding her son, her eyes blurry with tears and she blinked them away so she could take a better look at him, "Matthew Oliver Sullivan-Queen," she whispered, pressing a kiss to his head as she pulled him closer, tears running down her cheek as she closed her eyes, trying to imagine the look Oliver would have on his face right at that moment if he was there.

"Oh, Chloe," Lois whispered, her own eyes wet with tears. "He's perfect."

Mia blinked back tears, as well, a genuine smile on her face for the first time in months. "I like that name."

Chloe opened her eyes after a long moment and smiled down at the baby, touching his hand, "he looks like him..." she whispered.

"He has your eyes," Lois observed, though overall, Chloe was right.

Chloe looked up at her cousin, glad she and Mia were there with her and she didn't have to do this on her own, "do you wanna hold him?" She asked quietly, her voice breaking.

She held her breath, nodding quickly and reaching down carefully so Chloe could put the tiny baby in her arms. She cradled him close, protectively. "He's beautiful," she whispered.

Mia reached out and put a hand on Chloe's shoulder. "Do you need anything? Do you want some water or ice or something?"

Chloe glanced at Mia and nodded slightly, wincing as she shifted to sit up, "water would be good, thank you, Mia."

"Sure thing," she said with a nod. She quickly headed out the door, disappearing from their sight and then leaning heavily against the wall. She shut her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply and rubbing her hands over her face. Oliver had a son.

And she'd do whatever it took to keep him safe. Him _and_ Chloe.

* * *

**June 22nd, 2016**

"Comfortable?" Chloe asked Matthew as he adjusted on his seat in the jet, not really paying attention to her as he looked out the window with wide eyes.

"When are we going to fly?" He asked, bouncing a little so he could see outside better.

"In a few minutes," Mia spoke up, glancing over at him from where she sat, a book in her hands.

Chloe rubbed a hand over Matthew's hair and then looked over at Mia, "are you planning on coming to the charity?"

She grimaced a little. "I can if you want."

"You don't have to," Chloe smiled at Mia, "if you wanted to, I was thinking all three of us could go, but I'm not sure I'm ready to introduce him to the public yet," she admitted quietly, Chloe had been going out of her way to keep Matthew away from paparazzi and any kind of journalistic curiosity, she didn't want his last name to influence his life like it had influenced Ollie's, who had been all over the magazines since he was Matthew's age. Luckily the public didn't care much after all these years, but she was still hesitant to take him to Queen Industries events with her.

"Well, if you decide you are ready, I'll come along. If not me and Matthew can hang out while you party with the rich and famous."

"Trust me, I much rather stay in and watch movies with you two," she raised an eyebrow a little, then glanced down at her son, "but it's for a good cause."

"I know it is." Mia's voice was quiet and she looked at Matthew, too. "It's up to you."

Chloe looked over at Mia again and nodded, "still have a couple of days to decide, we'll think about it."

She nodded, as well. "All right." She paused. "Where are we staying this time?" There was a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"At the Hilton," Chloe assured her, a tiny smile on her lips, "it's right next to the event," last time, they had stayed at Oliver's penthouse and it had been too much for both of them, the clock tower was different because Chloe had been pretty much living there even before things had happened, but even after six years, the Star City penthouse was still exactly like Oliver had left it, or it had been four years ago.

"Besides, I thought you'd appreciate a place right at the beach, with it's own, private beach," Chloe grinned slightly, raising an eyebrow at Mia, they still lived their lives like they used to, even with all the money in their bank accounts now, there was no splurging, Matthew went to public school and they only got new cars because the old ones were barely running anymore, but in this particular case, Chloe saw no problem in spending some extra money to make the trip to Star City easier on all of them, especially Mia.

Mia relaxed at that information. She hadn't voiced it, but she'd been dreading going to the penthouse, or worse yet, the Queen mansion. Not that Oliver had spent any real time at the latter from what she knew, but some days, just being around Matthew, as much as she loved the kid, was a hard enough reminder of what she'd lost. Of what _they'd_ lost. "Heck yeah. Hear that, Kid? We can go swimming!" She grinned.

Now Matthew's attention was on Mia and his eyes widened, "we can? There's a pool?" He asked excitedly.

"Better. There's the _ocean_."

His eyes widened and he looked from Mia to his mom, "really?"

Chloe grinned softly at that and nodded, "really, and there is a lot of sand too, we can make sand castles when we get tired of swimming."

"Excited now?" Mia teases the little blonde, ruffling his hair playfully.

"Yes!" He grinned, sitting up, "how long before we can go swimming?"

"A few more hours," Chloe answered, "but we get to fly now," she told him, pointing out of the window, "we're about to take off."

"Up up and away," Mia said softly, leaning her head against the window.


	6. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: chloeas and dl_greenarrow  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[One](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html) | [Two](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/672384.html) | [Three](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/678875.html) | [Four](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/684594.html) | [Five](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/689971.html) |

**June 24th, 2016**

Chloe was one of the last ones to leave the event, she got caught up talking to the head of the hospital, an older woman with lots of stories to tell, not only about Ollie, but about his parents too, she had never heard much about them, not because Ollie wouldn't talk about them, but because unfortunately, she never thought to ask.

It was almost midnight when she finally made her way outside, it's a warm night and the hotel was only a block away, so despite her heels, she dismissed the limo and started to walk, fully intending on spending some time with her thoughts on the way back, which meant, of course, that Lois would choose that exact moment to give her a call.

With a deep breath, Chloe picked up, "hey, Lo."

"How'd it go?" Lois asked, leaning back on the sofa with her feet curled beneath her.

"It went well," she told her, walking slowly, her eyes on the ocean, "I just left not even two minutes ago."

"I guess I have perfect timing then. You riding in style back to the hotel?" she teased.

"Steve Martins count as style, right? It's the deluxe collection," Chloe smirked a little, fully expecting to get yelled at for walking.

"You're _walking_? After Midnight? By yourself? Are you _crazy_?" So she was predictable.

"First of, its not midnight in California yet," she pointed out, "second, it's just a block and Star City is a lot safer then Metropolis."

"Oh gee I'm sure ten minutes makes a difference to random criminals, Chlo." She sighed heavily.

"Because criminals don't attack before midnight?" Chloe asked, with a roll of her eyes, "I'll let you know if there is anything susp-" before she could finish her word, Chloe paused, stilling and looking up toward the top of the buildings, holding her breath.

"Chloe?" There was alarm in Lois' voice. "Hey!"

Chloe blinked, taking a deep breath, "I'm okay," she assured her cousin, her eyes still on the roof of the buildings, "I thought I heard something..." but she knew she couldn't have. Mia was at the hotel with Matthew, she wouldn't leave him alone to go patrolling, no matter how bored she got, and why would anyone else be shooting arrows on top of buildings? Her mind was playing tricks on her again.

"Heard something like what?" Lois asked worriedly, her eyebrows furrowing. "Should I send Bart?" She knew better than to suggest Clark.

"No, I just," Chloe swallowed and shook her head, finally looking away from the buildings, "it's fine, I'm almost at the hotel."

"Chloe, what's going on?"

"I thought I heard arrows, from the rooftops," Chloe admitted quietly, starting to walk again, slowly, "I'm just hearing things, it's fine."

Lois paused at that. "Oh," she said just as quietly.

"Too much sun, I guess," Chloe whispered but glanced up again, her heart beating faster even though she knew it was impossible.

"Yeah," she whispered back. Next time her cousin went to Star City, Lois was going to insist on tagging along.

"Mia and I decided to stay awhile longer," Chloe said after a long moment of silence, "Matthew really likes the beach."

"How much longer is 'awhile longer?'" Lois asked uncertainly.

"Maybe another week or so, Vic has things under control with the Watchtower, Matt is on summer vacation and I think Mia needs the break too," Chloe said with a shrug, "you're welcome to fly in."

She was quiet for a moment. "I'm just not convinced Star City's the best place for you guys to take a vacation, Chloe."

Chloe sighed softly and nodded, "we're okay, we're staying at a hotel and if we decide things are getting hard, we can just leave."

"I just worry. I mean of all places...there are so many reminders there, Chlo." She sighed, too.

"I know," Chloe whispered, stopping just before she reached the hotel and looking at the beach, "but it's different this time... I just, I feel closer to him."

"Okay. As long as you're okay." There was concern in her voice. "Are you back at the hotel yet?"

"Yeah, I'm standing outside of it," Chloe told her quietly, looking up at the buildings once more, "my offer still stands if you wanna come, Lo, I can send the plane."

"I'll think about it," she promised. "You should get some rest, it's late."

"Yeah, you too," Chloe told her, "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"All right. I love you. Night, Chlo."

"Love you too, night, Lo." She said quietly, sighing deeply when she hung up the phone then looking outside for a long moment, it was almost like he was there, just a few buildings away, watching over her.

"Night, Ollie," she whispered, looking up for a while longer before stepping inside the hotel.

 

* * *

**June 25th, 2016**

Mia sat across from Matthew and Chloe at the ice cream shop the next evening, stirring her ice cream into 'soup' with her spoon. "Do you like it?" she asked the little boy, cocking her eyebrow at his mint chocolate chip ice cream cone. The poor kid had apparently inherited Oliver's allergy to peanuts and to this day Mia had a hard time imagining what it must be like not to be able to eat peanut butter.

Matthew nodded and held out his dripping cone toward Mia, making a mess on the table, "do you want it?"

Chloe shook her head and held a napkin under the cone, smiling a little but remaining silent, glancing outside every now and then. Since the previous night, she had been on edge, and she knew it wasn't healthy, but she kept looking around and expecting to see him, or to feel his presence again like she had before she walked into the hotel. She knew ghosts were real, she had been possessed by one before, and maybe Ollie had been there all this time, in his city, it made sense.

Mia chuckled at the offer and shook her head. "No, you go ahead. Thanks." She shifted her gaze to Chloe, her smile slipping a little at the distant expression on her face. "Chloe? You all right?" The other woman had been acting differently since the night before, something she'd picked up on almost immediately. But she'd chalked it up to the usual, and considering how heavy her own heart felt being in Star City, she could only guess that Chloe's felt that much heavier.

Blinking, Chloe looked back at Mia and smiled distractedly, nodding, "yeah, just tired," she lied then frowned a little when she looked at Matthew, the front of his shirt covered in ice cream, "I guess you'll need another shower when we get back, huh?"

Matthew grinned his half-toothless grin at his mom, "it's really good!"

Chloe smiled and kissed the top of his head, "well, I'm glad it's for a good cause."

Mia studied her a moment longer, then relaxed again, taking a bite of her ice cream and glancing out the window before looking back at them. "I'll get him cleaned up when we're done," she offered.

"Thank you," Chloe told Mia with a smile, leaning back against her chair and looking out the window again, they were close to the beach and it was a Saturday night so a lot of people were walking around and riding their bikes, having ice cream and talking, Chloe was looking at each one of the faces that walked past the window, searching every one of them, but it wasn't a face that caught her eye. It was a walk.

She sat up immediately, her eyes widening, jeans, black t-shirt, short blond hair and the walk. The Ollie walk, head held up, legs slightly bowed, chest held up and a laid back yet almost cocky posture, she couldn't take her eyes off of him, but she couldn't see his face.

"Mia, stay with him," Chloe said quietly, not even looking at Mia or at her son as she rushed outside the ice cream parlor and to the crowded sidewalk.

"Chloe?" Mia stared after her worriedly, then forced herself to smile as she looked back at Matthew. "You're making a big mess with that green ice cream, Kid." Her voice was light, but her eyes were anything but.

But Matthew frowned and looked after his mom, more ice cream dripping on to his shirt as he tipped the cone, "mom?" He turned back to Mia, "where is she going?"

"I'm not sure, but she'll be right back," Mia promised, ignoring her instinct to go after Chloe. She didn't know what was going on, but she couldn't leave Matthew and she wasn't going to drag him outside dripping ice cream everywhere.

Chloe approached slowly, her heart beating faster, he was still there, she had blinked and he hadn't disappeared, she was only a couple of feet away now, but she stilled. A short brunette walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, he responded by wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to a kiss, Chloe's stomach turned, but she couldn't take her eyes off of him.

With a deep breath, Chloe ignored the warmness of her eyes and continued to walk in the direction of the couple, "Ollie?" She called, holding her breath then he broke the kiss and waiting for him to turn.

"Something wrong, lady?" The boy couldn't be older than twenty and when he turned to look at Chloe, she could see his girlfriend must be around the same age.

"Sorry," she murmured, blinking back tears "I thought you were someone else," she explained, backing away slowly then turning around and walking quickly in the direction she came from, rubbing her face.

Mia slowly rose to her feet when she caught sight of Chloe a few moments later, returning. She could see her eyes were red-rimmed and she cocked her head to the side. "Chloe?"

"Hey," she said, holding her breath a little, and avoiding looking directly at either one of them, "are you guys ready to go back?"

"Yeah, I'll just...take Matt to the bathroom and wash his face and hands." She looked at her worriedly.

"Thanks," Chloe said quietly, plopping down on her chair.

"Mommy?" Matthew asked, "mommy, why are you crying?"

Mia rested a hand on Matthew's shoulder. "Come on, Kid. Let's get you cleaned up so we can get your mom back to the hotel. I think she has one of those ice cream headaches."

Chloe looked up at Mia grateful and watched as Mia took Matthew to the bathroom, sighing deeply, Chloe rubbed her face then picked up some napkins and started cleaning the mess her son had made. Maybe Lois was right, maybe staying in Star City wasn't such a great idea after all.

 

* * *

Some nights Mia was extremely glad Matthew had an 8 p.m. bedtime. It wasn't because she was sick of him or anything like that--but sometimes, like now, she needed to talk to Chloe about grown-up stuff, and having a five year old around made that difficult. So as soon as Chloe emerged from the bedroom of the hotel, Mia greeted her with raised eyebrows. "Are you going to fill me in or do I have to continue on in suspense?"

Chloe looked at Mia and took a deep breath, watching her for a moment before walking over to the couch and joining Mia on it, "I thought I had seen him," she admitted so quietly, she didn't know if Mia had heard her.

All the air left her lungs in a rush and she swallowed hard. She hadn't been prepared for _that_ , though in retrospect, she probably should have been. "He's kind of everywhere around here," Mia said softly, tucking a leg beneath herself as she turned to face Chloe.

"Yeah," Chloe agreed in a whisper, "I was walking back to the hotel last night and I..." she glanced over at Mia, "I could have sworn I heard an arrow being shot from the rooftop."

She drew in a breath and rested her elbow on the back of the sofa, resting her head on her hand. "It makes sense. I mean, this is his place. This whole city."

Holding her breath, Chloe turned to look at Mia, her eyes glassy again, "you don't think I'm losing it?"

"Chloe...you're not losing it." Her voice was quiet, but certain. "I feel him here, too. And I was never here with him even." She wound her arms around her knees.

"Neither was I," she whispered, wiping her face, "I have never felt him this strongly before, Mia, not even right after it happened, not even the last two times I came to Star City."

That made her pause, a faint frown on her face. "What do you think's different this time?"

"I don't know," Chloe admitted, resting her elbows on her knees and her face on her hands, "I don't know if maybe I'm not afraid of paying attention to it and missing him more, or... if it's something else."

Mia looked at her uncertainly. "Something else like...not of this world something else?"

"No," Chloe started then paused, "I don't know... it's not... bad, it's just strong."

"Maybe it's because it's still so soon after the anniversary," she suggested softly.

"Maybe," Chloe said, even though she didn't agree, it had been over a month and this was... different, she couldn't explain it, but she definitely felt like someone was watching her the previous night, as she walked back to the hotel, "maybe I just need more sleep," she offered Mia a small smile, "are you going to stay up for a while longer?"

She held up the book she'd been reading. "Yeah. I'm almost finished with it." She paused. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm okay," Chloe assured Mia, and got up, "it's just been a long few days," she leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of Mia's head, "get some rest, okay? We promised Matthew we'd take him to the park tomorrow and we both know that will be a long day too."

Mia smirked. "Good thing I'm fast enough to keep up with him. Most of the time anyway." She watched Chloe for a moment. "Goodnight."

"Thank God for you," Chloe said, only half joking, "night Mia," she told her before turning and walking into one of the bedrooms.

Mia watched her go, then sighed softly, a worried frown settling on her features once more. She had a feeling getting back into her book tonight was going to be a moot point. She glanced at the television. Maybe a mindless distraction instead, she thought warily.

* * *

**June 26th, 2016**

Matthew watched with wide eyes as his arrow flew up high into the air, the tricks Aunt Mia had been showing him were working! His face fell a little when he watched it fall in the middle of a bunch of trees, but he shrugged it off, glancing where his mom and aunt were, sitting on a bench near by before clenching to his bow and running to the trees, he had to retrieve his arrow.

When he walked into the forest, he squinted and rubbed a hand on his t-shirt, keeping his eyes alert for any signs of the green arrow, it wasn't going to be easy to find because all the trees were green too, but he was determined. And then he spotted it, his eyes widening and a big grin appearing on his face as he saw the tip of it, hanging from a branch, except, it was way up high.

He didn't give up, though, and made his way over to the tree where his arrow was, but his eyes were up instead of looking where he was going, so he ran right into something solid.

"Hmph," he made a noise as he fell backwards, landing on his bottom, "ow," he said with a pout, blinking and looking up at what he had collided against only to find a very, _very_ tall man looking back at him.

"Hey. Sorry, Kid." The man reached a hand down to help him up, then looked up at where the arrow was lodged. "Think you're going to need some help there, too." When he smiled, it was friendly and full of warmth. Once the kid was on his feet again, the man moved over to the tree and wrapped one hand around the middle of it, carefully pulling it from the tree so as not to break it. Then he crouched down in front of the boy, holding the arrow out to him. "Robin Hood fan?" he teased gently.

Matthew was so distracted by the man, the fact that his bottom kinda hurt didn't even bother him, at the mention of one of his heroes though, he grinned, "Robin Hood is the best!"

He smiled back. "He's always been my favorite, too." He handed him the arrow back, raising an eyebrow. "Good color choice, by the way."

"You like green too?" Matthew asked with wide eyes as he took the arrow back.

"It's my favorite color," he told the boy.

" _Mine too_!" Matthew said in disbelief.

His smile brightened. "Well, you have good taste then."

"What's your name?" Matthew asked curiously as he looked at the other man.

"Oliver," he answered, rising to his feet and ruffling the boy's hair. "What's yours?"

"Matthew," he grinned, glancing over his shoulder when he heard his mom calling for him, "I gotta go!"

"Well, it was good to meet you, Matthew. Be careful where you shoot those arrows, all right?" He smiled.

"Thanks!" He called, grinning before running back out of the forest, bow and arrow in his hands.

Oliver watched him go, smile on his face, tucking his hands into his pockets as he headed away in the opposite direction.


	7. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: [](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/profile)[**chloeas**](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/) and [](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/profile)[**dl_greenarrow**](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/)  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[Chapter 1](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html) \- [Chapter 2](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/672384.html) \- [Chapter 3](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/678875.html) \- [Chapter 4](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/684594.html) \- [Chapter 5](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/689971.html) \- [Chapter 6](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/692290.html)

**June 26th, 2016**

Oliver set down the bag of groceries on the kitchen counter and glanced around, listening but not hearing any noise in the small house. "Mr. Weatherford?" he called with a hint of worry. He hoped the old man hadn't tried to venture off outside alone again. The last time had been bad enough--the man had ended up falling down the back patio steps and laying there until Oliver had arrived nearly two hours later. He still felt bad that he'd be gone so long.

"In here, boy," the man called from the crammed living room, where he was listening to the small, battery-powered radio.

Oliver put away the cold food in the fridge, then left the rest on the counter for the time being, stepping into the living room. "You're being too quiet. Makes me think you're up to something," he joked.

"Man my age has lost the plotting bone a lot time ago," he told Oliver, grabbing his stick but not getting up, "I'm out of batteries."

"Good thing I just picked more up then," he responded with a small smile. "Double A's right?"

"That's right," he said with a smile, shifting the radio in his hand blindly, "only thing that keeps me company when you're out."

Oliver's smile slipped a little, even though the man obviously couldn't see it. "We could remedy that, you know." He raised an eyebrow, wondering if the argument over a seeing eye dog would go any better today than it had the last several weeks.

The man waved his hand, "I haven't changed my mind, boy, I'm too old for that."

"Nonsense," he responded, the same way he did every time they had this particular discussion. "Besides, the dog's the one that will be doing the work."

"I don't like the smell of dogs," Neil argued stubbornly, "there's no room in this house for another stray."

Oliver winced a little at that, and was for once, grateful the old man couldn't see his reaction. "Good to know what you think of me, Old Man," he said, his voice light.

"Isn't that what you are, showing up on my door, asking for a place to stay?" The man asked, but his voice was light too.

He smirked. "You mean after I saved your ass from that mugger?"

"What is that you're saying?" Neil asked, lifting a hand to his hearing aid, a wrinkled smirk on his face, "can't hear you."

"Uh huh." He grinned, relaxing once more. If he hadn't known deep down the old man was just giving him a hard time, Oliver would have assumed he wanted him gone and he would've respected that. As it was, the arrangement made things easier for both of them. The old man had some help around his house, and Oliver had a place to stay.

"When is it that you're going out again?" The man asked, he complained, but it was nice to have someone to talk to that wasn't the nurse that checked on him every other day.

"For what? Just the sake of going out or out on patrol?" he asked, sitting down on the sofa after retrieving the new batteries for Neil's radio.

"Whatever it is that you're going to do," he said with a shrug.

"I'll be patrolling, but not for a few hours yet. Do you need something?"

The old man waved his hand at Oliver, "just my batteries. Don't you worry about me."

He smiled faintly. "You're the only one I have _to_ worry about, Old Man." He rose to his feet, taking the radio from him and changing the batteries. "There you are. Good to go."

He took the radio and nodded in thanks, "you need to go out there and find yourself a nice young lady."

Oliver paused for a moment, the image of the blonde from the dreams he kept having flashing through his mind unbidden. "Maybe," he murmured.

"What's on your mind, boy?" He asked, adjusting on his seat and laying the radio on his lap.

"You ever have the same dream repeat itself on a regular basis?" he asked, resting his arms on his legs and folding his hands.

"I don't remember much of what I used to dream about, what kind is it?" The old man asked, mildly interested.

"A blonde woman," he admitted quietly. "And there's something incredibly familiar about her, but I don't know her."

"Is it someone from a movie you saw?" He asked, turning his face toward Oliver even though he couldn't see him.

"I don't think so," he murmured. "I'm not sure. I can't get her face out of my mind." He blew out a breath. "I don't know, maybe she's just someone I made up in my subconscious."

"Maybe you should look for her," he suggested.

"I wouldn't know where to start," he admitted. "If she even exists at all. There are a lot of pretty blonde women with green eyes out there."

"Where is she when you dream of her?"

Oliver paused at that, trying to remember other details from his dreams. He closed his eyes, drawing in a breath and attempting to relax. "Some place up high. A city view. But I don't know if it's Star City or someplace else."

"Can't you kids find everything with those computers these days? Use one of those," he suggested, leaning back against his seat and closing his eyes.

"You mean to try and pinpoint any landmarks from my dreams?" He paused, considering that. "Worth a shot, I guess. Even if I'm not very good with a computer."

"Whatever works," he said, "but if you wanna listen to an old man's wisdom, I don't believe in coincidences."

Oliver cocked his head to the side curiously. "What's a coincidence about me dreaming about a blonde woman?"

"There isn't one, so you have to figure out why it's happening," he told Oliver.

He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "I guess I've got my work cut out for me then."

"Should give you something to keep busy with," he said with a nod, "you've got too much free time on your hands."

"You gotta be kidding. Between taking care of you and patrolling at night I don't have enough time to sleep," he teased with a grin. "No wonder I'm having strange dreams."

"Oh, don't you put the blame on me," he said, with a grin too, "you have a nice girl to come home to, you'll forget all about playing a hero."

Oliver gazed at him for a moment. "The world needs Green Arrow a lot more than it does Oliver Queen, Mr. Weatherford." He shrugged a little. "But I'll see what I can figure out with a computer."

"You kids and your dreams of saving the world," he said with a shake of his head and a sigh.

At that, he grinned. "Yeah, well. Someone has to do it, right?"

"Better you than me, boy," he told him.

"And here I was just thinking I could use a sidekick," he said with teasing disappointment. "You sure? I could have you whipped into shape in no time."

That actually got a chuckle out of the old man, "never been a 'sidekick' in my life, I'm not going to start now."

Oliver grinned. "What do you want for dinner?" he asked, rising to his feet.

"Why don't you make that chili again? That was actually a good one." He suggested, turning the radio in his hand.

"Will do," he agreed with a slight nod, heading into the kitchen.

Sighing, Neil adjust on his seat, turned on his radio and shook his head a little, a small smile on his face.

* * *

Mia sat perched on top of the roof of the Star City Gazette. Other than Queen Tower, it was the tallest building in the city, and since she still wasn't that familiar with the layout of the place, she figured it would be a good vantage point from which to study it for awhile.

Drawing in a breath of the cool evening air, she could smell the salt from Pacific on the breeze, tantalizing her and teasing her to throw in her bow for the night and go to the beach instead.

She resisted, of course.

She was still, silent, staring down at the streets when a flash of movement from the next roof caught her eye. She quickly turned her head, catching sight of a green blur. Her heart nearly leapt into her throat as she turned her entire body, staring as the figure ran across the roof and leapt to the next one.

_It can't be_.

But without thinking about it, she took off after him, jumping down to the roof he'd just vacated and racing across the gravel surface until she'd reached the far side of it.

She looked at the next roof, but there was no sign of him.

Mia's heart was beating heavily in her chest as she whipped her head around, searching the night sky, the other rooftops nearby but not seeing anyone.

Had she imagined it?

Or had she just seen the ghost of Oliver Queen?

* * *

Chloe had been monitoring Mia while she patrolled from her laptop, when she saw the younger woman was back and on the roof of the hotel safely, she stood and opened the balcony, there was a reason she had requested the suite on the top floor, but when Mia didn't immediately walked in, she frowned, her heart already speeding up, "Mia?" she called quietly.

Mia stepped into the suite a moment later, her face drained of all color. She was visibly shaking. She looked at Chloe wordlessly.

"Mia, what happened?" She asked, alarmed and reached over to push Mia's hood out of the way, checking for injuries, "are you hurt?"

"No," she whispered, her voice cracking. "I saw _him_."

Chloe stilled, staring at Mia, her chest tightening immediately as she dropped her hands to Mia's shoulders, "where?"

"One of the other rooftops," she said, her eyes still wide. "I mean, I wasn't that close, but I saw someone and they were in green and on a _roof_."

"And I thought I heard someone shooting arrows on the rooftops the other night, when I was walking back from the event," Chloe added, a frown on her face, "the costume, could you tell if it looked like his?"

"There was a hood. Beyond that and the flash of green..." Mia shook her head.

"Okay," Chloe took a deep breath and rubbed her hands over her face, "we'll have to look into it."

"Maybe we're both just going crazy." She moved over and sat down on the couch. "I mean, it's not even possible right? It can't be possible."

"We'll see," Chloe told her, sitting down next to her and starting to type, "was this just now?"

"Not quite ten minutes ago."

"Okay," she took a deep breath, "where did you see him?"

"I was on the roof of the Gazette," Mia said, leaning over to see what Chloe was doing. "He was on the roof south of it."

Chloe nodded, glancing at Mia, her heart racing as she typed quickly, satellite images starting to pop up on the screen, "lucky for us, the Queen Industries satellites have a special coverage of Star City, there isn't an inch of the city that isn't covered, if he it's him, we'll find him."

She blew out a breath, swallowing hard. "Chloe?"

Pausing, Chloe glanced at Mia, her eyes a little wide, "yeah?"

"If it was Ollie..." Mia chewed her lower lip for a minute. "Why didn't he ever come back to let us know?"

"I don't know," Chloe whispered, looking down as she thought about it, "I don't know, Mia, but if it is him and not some copycat, I'm sure he had a really good reason to stay away from us."

"A copycat. Right." She looked down. "I hadn't thought about that."

"Let me see what I can find before we reach any conclusions," Chloe suggested then started typing again, swallowing hard, Mia had a good point, if it really was him, why wouldn't he have come looking for them?

Mia sat beside her, silent. A rare thing for Mia. At least around Chloe. She held her breath, waiting and watching as the blonde did her magic on the laptop. She chewed absently on her thumbnail.

A moment later, Chloe stilled, glancing at Mia then back at the computer, zooming in on an image, a man, clearly wearing green, with a bow and quiver on his back on a rooftop, she zoomed in further and nodded, "is that what you saw?"

If possible, the younger woman's face had paled even more at the image. "Yes," she whispered, staring at the image on the screen.

Chloe stared at the image, taking a deep breath and rubbing her hands over her face, "at least we know you're not seeing things," she said quietly, staring for a moment longer then zooming in the image as far as she could, it looked like him, but something was off.

"And you probably weren't hearing things either," Mia added, still staring at the screen.

"His costume looks different," Chloe whispered, touching the screen, "if it was the leather Ollie used, the light would have reflected off of it, either this is an opaque leather or something else entirely."

"His spare is still at the clock tower," she whispered. "Maybe...maybe he had a new one made? A new design?" She swallowed hard.

"Maybe," Chloe agreed quietly then reached for Mia's hand, finally looking away from the screen, "or maybe this isn't him at all."

She gripped onto Chloe's hand without thinking about it. "Right. Copycat," she whispered.

"We'll look into it, we'll figure out who this is, and if it is him, we'll figure out why he's here," she promised Mia, her stomach turning at the thought that Ollie had been alive all along and just didn't want anything to do with them. No, she knew he would never do that. Chloe took a deep breath and looked back at the screen, they needed answers, not more questions.

Mia nodded slightly. "And if it's not Ollie and some guy's out there destroying Green Arrow's name? I have dibs on kicking his ass."

"Maybe he thinks he's doing a good thing," Chloe suggested quietly, squeezing Mia's hand.

"Then he needs to get his own identity."

"We'll see what we can find," Chloe promised Mia.

She forced herself to take a deep breath, suddenly realizing how tired she was. "All right. I think I'm gonna...take a shower and go to sleep. You should do the same." Mia rose to her feet.

"You're right," Chloe agreed, sighing deeply, "we'll figure out what to do tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," she echoed quietly. "Goodnight, Chloe." She headed out of the main room and toward the bedroom she'd been staying in.

"Night, Mia," she replied, taking a deep breath and staring back at the screen, touching it for a second then shaking her head at herself and closing the computer, she shouldn't get her hopes up.


	8. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: chloeas and dl_greenarrow  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[One](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html) | [Two](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/672384.html) | [Three](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/678875.html) | [Four](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/684594.html) | [Five](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/689971.html) | [Six](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/692290.html) | [Seven](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/694140.html) |

**June 30th, 2016**

It had been four days since Mia spotted who they had been referring to as 'the new Arrow', and since then, they hadn't seen him again. Mia had been out for hours every night and Chloe was sitting on the rooftop, monitoring Star City through her cellphone and keeping an eye out for Mia while Matthew slept on the floor below.

Chloe had gone to bed at four-thirty the previous night, it was just past seven and she was already awake again, keeping as quiet as possible not to wake Mia and Matthew, she ordered room service for breakfast, and a copy of every local newspaper they had available, tabloids included.

Once she got her order, she poured herself a big mug of coffee and started going through the pile of papers, but right as she lifted the Gazette from it's place on top of the other newspapers, her eyes fell on the second paper on the pile and her heart stop, the headline for The Star, Star City's biggest tabloid, like their version of Inquisitor, read in big bold letters: 'Is Green Arrow Back?'

She dropped the Gazette to the floor and picked up the other paper as quickly as she could, completely forgetting about her coffee for the time being, that headline was enough to make sure she was fully awake.

Chloe read through the article carefully, once, twice, three times, the way the source was describing the rescue, the way he said Green Arrow spoke to him and told him to be careful, the way he said he was snarky and sarcastic, the way he mentioned Green Arrow spoke through some kind of device that made his voice distorted. It all fit in perfectly, so perfectly, she knew that even if this was a copycat, they wouldn't know anything about Green Arrow's personality.

It _had_ to be him.

"You're up early," Mia mumbled as she made her way into the main room, rubbing tiredly at her eyes. She'd barely slept the last few nights. She was exhausted, but the thought that Ollie really might be out there, in the same city as they were, was enough to patrol extra hours on the off chance she might spot him again. Or better yet, actually run into him. She took note of the paper in Chloe's hand. "Find anything?"

She looked up at Mia with wide eyes and nodded, taking a deep breath and holding the paper out to Mia.

That woke her up the rest of the way. She quickly took the paper from Chloe and sat down beside her on the sofa, reading the article. Her heart was already beating more quickly. "If it's not Ollie, he has a twin," she said matter-of-factly.

At the word twin, Chloe's stomach turned, "or a clone," she murmured.

Mia looked over at her, raising her eyebrows. "You're kidding, right?"

Chloe looked over at Mia, her expression completely serious, "Lex is alive, and he has been known to clone people before, Lana, his brother," she sighed deeply and stood up, rubbing her hands over her face, "I wouldn't put it past him." She turned to face Mia again, "it would explain why he's here and he didn't go looking for us, maybe he doesn't know we exist."

She looked down for a moment, then rubbed a hand over her face. "But didn't he and Oliver hate each other?" Her voice was soft. "Why would he have cloned him?"

"Ollie tried to kill him, Mia and for a long time we thought he had succeeded," she said quietly, "maybe he cloned him just so he could kill him himself, if I know anything about Lex Luthor, he would do something like that."

She winced, wrapping her arms around herself. "So then even if it is a clone of Ollie..." She swallowed hard and looked up at her. "We need to protect him."

Chloe nodded, holding Mia's gaze, "that's what we're going to do."

"We just have to find him." Mia chewed her lower lip. "Maybe it's time we called for some backup."

"We're not leaving until we do." Chloe told Mia, "we'll take turns staying with Matthew and we'll turn this city upside down, we'll find him."

She was quiet for a moment. "So, when someone's cloned, everything's the same? Except he won't have his memories?"

"I think it depends when they are cloned," Chloe explained, considering her question carefully, "I think the clone will have the original's memories up to the point when the genetic material was collected, but I'd need to do some research to be sure."

Mia raked a hand through her hair. "All right, so what do we do? Just...start knocking on doors?"

"If it is him, he's obviously not calling himself Oliver Queen, or someone would have found him by now," she pointed out, "we check video footage, every security camera we can find, we look at satellite images, I can look at more images from that night when you saw him, maybe see if we can track him down or see where he headed and where he ended his patrol, once we have a general area, we look around until we see him."

"We'll find him faster if we call the others," she said quietly, glancing up at Chloe. "They can come and help. Assuming they don't think we're both crazy."

Chloe considered Mia for a moment, "it would be faster, but I don't know if they will listen," she told her quietly, "maybe we need better evidence before we give them a call."

"Right." She nodded a little and rose to her feet. "Well, I'll shower and get started."

"Okay," Chloe said with a nod, getting up and booting her computer, "I'll get started until you're ready, we might need to go out and get you a computer so we can both work on the videos."

"All right. Sounds good," she said, even though she'd rather be out there physically looking for Oliver, or Oliver-clone. She knew Chloe's way made more sense.

* * *

Lois Lane paced the floor of her apartment, dialing her cousin's number and pressing the phone to her ear. "Come on, Chloe," she muttered, worrying her lower lip.

When Chloe saw the name flashing on her caller ID, she held her breath, she could only hope her cousin hadn't been bored enough to look at the tabloids, but she had the feeling that wasn't the case, still, she was gonna try and sound as normal as possible, "hey, Lo."

"Tell me again why you're staying in Star City longer."

Chloe pulled the phone from her mouth and sighed deeply before pulling it back, "because the hundred degree temperatures make it that much easier to tire Matthew out?" She tried.

Lois sighed heavily, not bothering to pull the phone away. "Chlo _e_. I read the reports. I know what you're doing."

Rubbing a hand over her face, Chloe leaned back against the couch and closed her eyes, "Mia spotted him a few nights ago, it wasn't always the plan."

"This is crazy, Chloe. It can't be Oliver. It's not possible." Her voice was quiet.

"Read the article, Lo," She said quietly, closing her eyes, "it sounds exactly like him."

"I read it. Three times. And yes, I'll admit, it sounds like him. But...how can it possibly be? He was in that building when it..." She drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "I'm not trying to be mean. I just don't want you setting yourself up for more heartbreak."

"I know you're just worried," Chloe swallowed, "and for the record, I don't think it's _him_ , because if it was my--" she paused, "if it was the real Ollie, he would have come to find us, but I need to know who this man is, the only possibility that makes sense is if Lex had him cloned."

At that, Lois grew silent for a long moment. She slowly sat down on the sofa. "God. I hadn't even thought about _that_." She swallowed hard, pulling her legs up to her chest and leaning back on the couch.

Chloe sighed deeply and nodded, looking down at Matthew as he napped with his head on her lap, running her fingers through his hair gently, "I can't think of anything else that would make sense, but I didn't want to tell anyone else about what we were doing because I know how it sounds."

"Right," she murmured. "Well, they won't hear it from me. But I can't make any promises that someone won't read the same articles." She was quiet for a moment. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," Chloe told her cousin sincerely, "I want answers and not more questions, I don't know what to think until I have them."

Lois drew in a breath and let it out slowly. She couldn't say she didn't want some answers herself. While she and Oliver had been over long before he and Chloe had gotten together, they had remained good friends, something that she had a serious lack of in her life. So if Oliver was somehow really alive, or if there was an Oliver-clone running around out there somehow, she wanted answers, too. "Yeah, I know," she said softly.

"I promise I'll keep you updated, Lo, but for now, we're not doing more than searching the city's footage and whatever cameras we can hack in to to see if we can spot him, or Green Arrow, Mia and I are taking turns with Matthew and working as much as we can get, but we're not risking ourselves," Chloe promised her cousin quietly.

"All right, good." Lois paused. "I miss you guys. And that's not meant to be guilt-inducing. I just...miss you."

"I miss you too," Chloe said quietly, "and the offer still stands, if you wanna come..."

"If you're out there much longer, I'll probably be taking you up on that." She smiled a bit.

"Just let me know," she said quietly and if she was honest, she was really hoping her cousin would come to help them, but she knew she had a job and a, well, _life_ outside of the craziness that her life was.

"Will do. Give Matthew a big hug for me, okay? I love you."

"I will, he misses you too," Chloe told her, looking down at her son, "love you too, Lo."

"Call me if there's any news. Talk to you soon."

"I will, see you soon." Chloe said quietly then took a deep breath after hanging up.

Lois hung up, as well, setting her phone beside her on the sofa and shutting her eyes. If this turned out to be some cosmic joke, there was going to be hell to pay.

* * *

**July 5th, 2016**

They had been in Star City for over ten days, they had been researching non-stop for four of those days, and they still hadn't found anything else since the night Mia saw him. Chloe didn't know what they were missing, but whoever this guy was, he was good at keeping a low profile and considering Chloe had gone through hell to find Oliver after Jimmy's funeral, she knew that if he wanted to hide, he was going to do a good job of it.

Her eyes were burning, she had been looking at the computer screen for the past six hours, Mia and Matthew had finally passed out on one of the beds, she could see them from where she had been sitting on the couch, so she placed a blanket over them and closed the door halfway before walking out of the room quietly.

It was just past two in the morning and she was exhausted, but she didn't want to sleep, she was too wired and she had had too much coffee, even if she tried to sleep, it would be a restless sleep and she wouldn't actually get any rest, so she decided to go for a walk.

She took off her shoes and stepped on the sand, sighing deeply as she looked around the completely deserted beach, deciding which direction to go in before moving toward civilization, where there were the more buildings and, in the back of her mind she knew, more danger. She didn't plan on putting herself in danger or walking straight to the more dangerous areas of downtown, but that didn't mean she couldn't watch from a distance.

About twenty minutes later, Chloe was still walking, she hadn't seen anyone since she left the hotel, and aside from the ocean and the occasional passing car, she couldn't hear anything, it was almost like the entire city was asleep. And then something made her stop.

Chloe heard something, a quick movement, if she didn't know any better, she would have thought Lois sent Bart to check in on her, holding on to her phone tightly, she looked around her, but more importantly, looked up at the rooftops, her heart beating fast against her chest.

"Haven't you heard it's dangerous to walk alone at night in the city?" A distorted voice asked her from behind.

She stilled completely, her heart felt like it was going to explode, not because she was scared, but because she recognized his voice instantly. Chloe felt like she couldn't breath, she couldn't move, couldn't turn around to look at him, after all these years, it could really be him, maybe, even if it was a clone, she could see a _version_ of him again...

Oliver frowned slightly when the woman seemed to freeze in place. "Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you. That's not my thing."

Swallowing hard, she looked down, her eyes tearing up. She was pretty sure it was him, but he didn't recognize her, he would have if he knew who she was, so even though it was Ollie, it wasn't _her_ Ollie.

Chloe rubbed her hands over her face then turned slowly to look at him, her eyes wide, her stomach turning as she had no idea what to expect.

His eyes widened slightly beneath the night vision glasses he wore and he sucked in a breath at the unexpected face. It was _her_.

"You," he whispered, his voice so soft the distorter didn't even pick it up.

She blinked, hearing his voice without the distorter, she knew, it was him and holding her phone with both her hands tightly was all she could do not to reach up and push his hood back, but then... "you know me?" She whispered, her heart beating even faster if it was possible, maybe, just maybe seeing her made him remember her.

Oliver blinked a couple of times. "Don't I?" It was definitely her. He'd been dreaming about her every night for weeks. Her face had been emblazoned in his mind.

A dry sob broke through her and she covered her mouth with one of her hands, staring at him and nodding, but not being able to say anything.

Involuntarily, he took a step toward her. "How?"

Chloe shook her head, tears running down her cheek as she wrapped her arms around herself, "it can't be you."

"I don't understand." He reached up and turned off the voice distorter. "You know who I am?"

She wanted to look away, to give herself a moment to pull herself together, but she couldn't take her eyes off of him, as if she did, he was going to vanish, "Ollie," she whispered.

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, staring back at her for a moment, then lifting his hand up to push the hood back. "Who are you?" he asked quietly. "I recognize you. I--" How exactly did someone tell another person that he'd been dreaming about her for weeks but he had no real idea who she was?

With a gasp, she stared at him, tightening her arms around herself, seeing his face, all she wanted to do was touch him, but she didn't want to scare him away, "I'm--" she took a deep breath, "I'm Chloe Sullivan," she told him quietly, her stomach was so tight, it hurt.

Oliver wasn't sure what to make of her reaction and his own stomach tightened a little. "Are you afraid of me?" His voice was soft, uncertain. "Did I do something, hurt you?" He shook his head a little.

Her eyes widened and she shook her head quickly, "no," she breathed heavily, "you... you died, Ollie. Six years ago."

"Right, that," he murmured, looking down for a moment. He drew in a breath and glanced back at her again.

"You.... know?" She whispered.

"That I was gone?" Oliver nodded a little, reaching up and taking his glasses off. It wasn't like he needed them considering she knew who he was anyway.

Chloe stilled again, not able to do anything but stare at him, she never thought she would be able to look him in the eye again.

He met her eyes, a little caught off guard by the intensity with which she was staring at him, but feeling drawn to her at the same time. "How did we know each other?" he asked quietly.

She opened her mouth but closed it, swallowing it hard, "we, we worked together, at first," she told him quietly, "with the team you put together."

Oliver cocked his head to the side. "Team?" he echoed, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Of superheroes," she whispered, watching him closely. She didn't want him to think she was crazy.

He opened his mouth to respond, then shut it again, not sure what to say. "And you're one of them?" And here he'd warned her it wasn't safe to walk alone.

"Not... _really_ ," she told him, unsure of how to word it, "I take care of the behind the scenes."

"I don't...really know what that means," he admitted.

Chloe sighed softly and nodded, "I do research and I... make sure everyone gets back from patrol safely and if there's a problem, I send help." At that, she finally looked away, taking a deep breath. When she wasn't too late.

The catch in her voice was unmistakable. He took another hesitant step toward her. "Oh," he said softly.

When she looked at him again, her breath caught, she didn't expect him to be closer. Chloe stared at him for a moment long, "you... recognize me, but you don't know who I am?"

Oliver swallowed hard, looking down at the ground. "Basically."

"Where have you seen me before?" She asked quietly.

He hesitated a moment, glancing up at her again. "I've been dreaming about you." His voice was so quiet it was almost inaudible. "For weeks. You're all I've dreamt about."

"Oh," she whispered brokenly, looking down again. Some part of him knew her and was trying to get him to remember her. If seeing him wasn't overwhelming, _that_ definitely was.

Oliver reached out, his fingers gently brushing over her arm as he fell silent.

Chloe closed her eye tightly at his touch, staring to cry harder, she wanted to ask him so many questions, but she couldn't _think_.

He winced at the soft crying, trying to ignore his insticts to wrap his arms around and comfort her. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Where were you?" She whispered, her voice cracking as she turned her head up to look at him again, tears running down her cheek.

He shook his head a little. "I don't know," he said honestly. "I just...woke up and I was in a hotel room."

"When?"

Oliver shrugged a little. "A few weeks ago. May 14th."

She stared at him with wide eyes, her arms still tightly wrapped around herself, "that's--" she swallowed hard, "that's the anniversary of your death."

"Yeah, that's what I read," he said quietly. "I thought it was kind of weird, too."

Chloe studied him for a long moment, "what do you remember before the hotel?"

"What do you mean?" His eyebrows furrowed.

"Before you woke up in the hotel," she whispered, "what is the last thing you remember?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "Honestly, things are kind of blurry before then."

"What do you remember, Ollie?" She asked, a hint of desperation in her voice as she took a step forward.

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, looking up at her. He swallowed hard. "I remember I wasn't a good person." He looked away, out, over the ocean. "I remember drinking. A lot. And drugs." He rubbed a hand over his face.

"No," she said immediately, reaching to touch his face, "that's not you anymore."

Oliver closed his eyes at the touch of her hand. "No, not anymore," he whispered.

Chloe swallowed hard when she watched him leaning into her touch, she couldn't stop herself from brushing her thumb over his cheek, "you have saved so many lives, Ollie," she whispered, her chest tightening again, "you saved the world," she told him, "you literally saved the world."

He opened his eyes to look at her, his eyebrows furrowing, though he didn't pull away from her. " _I_ saved the world?" There was more than a hint of doubt in his voice.

"You did," she assured him, watching every inch of his face, memorizing what it felt like to touch his skin again, in case she woke up from all this, "you did what no one else could, you gave your life for us."

"I don't remember that," he said quietly, searching her eyes. But between the way she was looking at him, and the tone of her voice, he couldn't help but feel she was being honest with him.

She sniffed quietly and nodded, "you always knew what to do, no one could replace you, no one has." Not on the team, not in her heart.

Oliver drew in a breath, still looking uncertain. "It doesn't sound like me at all."

"You never believed in yourself, never saw how amazing you were," Chloe sobbed quietly, looking down and dropping her hand from his face, "I wish I could have made you see..."

He swallowed hard, shifting closer to her and hesitantly wrapping his arms around her, his chest feeling tight. "Hey, don't cry," he whispered.

Chloe sobbed harder, wrapping her arms around him without hesitation, clinging to him as hard as she could, "I don't wanna wake up," she whispered quietly, mostly to herself, closing her eyes tightly.

Oliver's eyebrows furrowed a little. "Wake up? You think you're dreaming," he murmured with realization. "Oh."

"You can't be here..." she whispered.

His arms tightened around her just a little. "Shouldn't is probably a better term."

"You feel real," she murmured, moving a hand to touch his arm but not pulling back as she rested her cheek on his shoulder, "you always remember me in my dreams."

"I want to remember you," Oliver said quietly. If for no other reason than to understand why she seemed to have so much faith in him when nothing he remembered about himself indicated _why_ she would.

"If you are real," she told him, pulling back to look at him, a worried frown on her face, "I can't let you leave."

He blinked. "What do you mean?" he asked uncertainly.

"I can't lose you again," she told him, holding his gaze.

Oliver gazed back at her. "We were more than just...it wasn't just work-related, was it?"

Chloe pursed her lips together and shook her head, glancing away then back at him, "we never admitted how much more than work it was, but we both knew."

He swallowed hard at that, both surprised by it and not, at the same time.

"And I never got to tell you," she whispered, looking down again.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"I don't..." she paused, swallowing, "I can't let you out of my sight again."

"How's that going to work?" He shook his head a little.

"I don't know," she whispered, rubbing her face, she couldn't bring him back to the hotel, she didn't know how Matthew would react to him, or how he would react to the fact that they had a child, even... even if he wasn't really Ollie.

Oliver thought for a moment, hesitantly reaching out and resting a hand on her shoulder. "It's late. Where do you live?"

"I live in Metropolis," Chloe told him quietly, rubbing a hand over her face then looking up at him again, "I'm staying at the Hilton."

"Metropolis?" he echoed, thrown momentarily. "As in Kansas?"

She nodded, raising her eyebrows, "does that bring anything back?" She asked hopefully.

"I'm not sure," he murmured.

"What is it, Ollie?" She pleaded in a whisper.

"The only other thing I can remember from the dreams is...we were up high. With a hell of a city view." He paused. "Was that city Metropolis?"

Her heart started beating faster and she looked at him, her eyes bright, but hopeful, "the Watchtower, that's where we spent most of our time."

"The Watchtower?" His hand was still resting on her shoulder. "What's that?"

"It's... where our headquarters were, where our team met, where I spent most of my time and you... you were usually there with me," she told him so quietly, he wouldn't have heard her if he was a few steps away, a nostalgic look on her face. He was the only one who was almost always there with her.

Oliver searched her eyes again. "Oh," he murmured. "All right, let me...let me get you back to the hotel."

Chloe stilled even as he started moving, "but then you'll leave," she whispered.

"I have...there's someone I'm looking after," he admitted quietly. "But I want to see you again. Can we meet in the morning?"

Her eyes teared up again and she watched him closely, "what if you never show up?"

His chest tightened. He didn't understand it, but seeing her tears made him _hurt_. "I will. I will, I promise," he whispered. "First thing in the morning."

"I believe in you," she whispered, wiping her face and sniffing quietly, "but what if you can't? What if this isn't real and if I let you go, you vanish again?"

Oliver lifted a hand to her cheek, gently wiping away a stray tear with his thumb. "I've been looking for you," he said quietly. "I just never expected to actually find you. I won't vanish."

Chloe leaned into his touch, but kept her eyes on his face, staring at him for a long moment, "can I... can I take a picture with you on my phone? That way I will know this really happened."

He hesitated a moment. "Okay."

She saw his hesitation then shook her head a little, "it won't be on the papers tomorrow, I promise you."

"I trust you," he said softly.

Swallowing hard, she stepped next to him and held her phone up, glancing up at him for a second then at the phone and taking the picture.

Oliver offered her a small smile and hesitantly held his hand out to her.

Chloe's heart skipped a beat when he held his hand out to her, she looked down at it, then slid her phone back into her pocket before taking his hand in a tight grip.

"Let's get you back," he said, walking alongside her. He glanced at her sideways. "I have another question."

"Ask everything you want," she told him quietly, looking down at their hands then up at him again.

"If you live in Metropolis, what brought you here to Star City?"

She took a deep breath, trying to figure out the best way to answer him, "Queen Industries," she watched him as they walked, "you... you left it to the team. They wanted me to have it." So your son could inherit it, she added silently.

He looked at her, startled. "Oh. That's--I hadn't really thought about the company," he admitted.

"Tess," Chloe started, "the CEO, she usually handles those things but she couldn't make it to this one and... it seemed important."

Oliver froze in his tracks, his eyes wide. "Tess?"

"Tess Mercer," Chloe explained, "she's taking care of everything business-wise."

"I know who she is."

Chloe's face fell and she looked at him, "you remember Tess?"

He winced at the look on her face, and looked down. "Yes," he admitted. "I'm sure she was thrilled when I...well. You know."

"Ollie," Chloe shook her head, "she cared about you," she took a deep breath, "you two didn't necessarily get along, but she would never have been happy, she messed up badly, but she felt guilty, like it was her fault that... that things happened to you." And in a way, it was. But Chloe had stopped blaming Tess a long time ago, she had had no idea what she was getting into when she released Zod.

He exhaled slowly, frustrated at his lack of memory. He had no real idea what she was talking about. "I don't know about any of that," he said quietly. "I just remember the look on her face when she saw me with..." He winced again. "Nevermind. It doesn't matter."

Her eyes widened slightly as she realized what he was talking about, after Chloe and Tess were locked together in the Watchtower, she asked him a lot of questions about her and their relationship, in an attempt to understand the other woman better, "you remember the reason you two broke up?"

Oliver's expression was one of guilt. "Yes," he murmured.

She took a deep breath and shook her head, it was good to at least have a better idea where he was, "that doesn't matter anymore, that was almost twelve years ago. She's moved on."

"I'll have to take your word on that," Oliver answered, glancing at her sideways.

"Maybe for now," she told him quietly, looking down at their hands again.

He looked down at their hands, as well.

"You _are_ real, aren't you?" She whispered finally, her hold on his hand tightening.

"Last time I checked," he said softly, squeezing her hand a little.

Chloe watched him for a long moment and took a deep breath, "there are a lot of people who will be incredibly happy to see you again," she assured him quietly.

Oliver cast a somewhat doubtful glance at her, but didn't voice his skepticism. Within a few more moments they were standing in front of the Hilton and he drew in a breath, letting it out slowly. "Meet you here in the morning?"

She took a deep breath and nodded a little, "out here?" She asked quietly, "or do you not want to be seen?"

He ducked his head. "I'd rather not be seen," he told her. He'd been taking great precautions to avoid just that.

Chloe thought that was the case so she nodded, "we can meet up on the roof," she would invite him to the room, but she knew she couldn't because of Matthew, and it was going to be hard enough to get Mia to agree to stay in there as it was.

A faint smile tugged at his lips at the suggestion. If he'd had any doubts that she knew things about him that no one else did, that comment wiped them out of his mind. "At eight? Or is that too early?" he asked uncertainly.

"Eight works," she told him quietly, watching him, she knew she wasn't going to get any sleep anyway, she would give Matthew breakfast and tell Mia everything, then she would go meet him.

"Okay." He met her eyes and reluctantly let go of her hand. "See you in a few hours."

"I'll see you soon," she said, immediately wrapping her arms around herself again and looking at him for a long moment before starting to the door.

Oliver felt his chest tighten as he watched her go. He didn't want to leave, but he needed to get back to check on Mr. Weatherford. The rest would have to wait until morning.


	9. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: [](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/profile)[**chloeas**](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/) and [](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/profile)[**dl_greenarrow**](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/)  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[Chapter 1](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html) \- [Chapter 2](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/672384.html) \- [Chapter 3](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/678875.html) \- [Chapter 4](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/684594.html) \- [Chapter 5](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/689971.html) \- [Chapter 6](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/692290.html)\- [Chapter 7](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/694140.html) \- [Chapter 8](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/697544.html)

**July 6th, 2016**

He arrived fifteen minutes early. Something the old Oliver Queen never would have done--at least not that he could remember. He had gotten a total of two hours of sleep, and like every night since he'd woken in that hotel room, he'd dreamt of her. Only this time he had a name to go with her face. He hadn't told Mr. Weatherford yet. The old man had been asleep in his chair when he'd gotten back from patrol and Oliver had carried him to his bed where he'd be more comfortable.

He'd still been out when Oliver had left to meet Chloe atop the Hilton roof. He'd talk to him later, and he was pretty sure the old man would gloat over the fact that he'd been right. Dreaming about the blonde hadn't just been some kind of random coincidence.

They'd known each other--and pretty well if Chloe's reaction to him the night before was anything to go on.

Oliver needed answers, and he didn't even know where to begin. Right then, however, he just needed to see her face again.

As predicted, Chloe hadn't been able to sleep, she laid down for a while, in the bed where Mia and Matthew were sleeping, but every time she started to fall asleep, she would wake back up and she found herself reaching for her phone and checking on the picture over and over again. Around 7:30, she finally got up and took a quick shower, changed into fresh clothes and with her heart beating and holding her breath, she sneaked her way up to the roof, her heart stopping completely when she saw him standing there.

"Hi," she called quietly.

He turned to face her, pausing for a moment as he caught sight of her in the sunlight. "Hi," he said just as quietly.

"You're here," she whispered, walking over to him slowly, keeping her eyes on his face.

"And you really are real," he said, his chest tightening.

Chloe nodded, stepping closer after a pause and reaching for his hand, looking down at it as she touched it softly then looking up at him again to check on his reaction.

Oliver gazed at her intently, brushing his thumb lightly over the back of her hand. "You're beautiful," he said quietly.

She held her breath, looking down at their hands again, hearing him telling her that made her feel like her chest was going to burst, "we have so much to talk about," she whispered.

He nodded a little, looking down, as well. "I don't really know where to start," he admitted.

"I think it might be easier if you ask me questions," she told him, raising her eyes to his face again, "I don't want to overwhelm you."

Oliver rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, then let go of her hand to move over to the edge of the roof, sitting down there and letting out a breath. "How did we meet?"

She hesitated for a second, the followed, sitting down next to him, she didn't want to be away from him if she didn't have to, "You and your team showed up in town, I already knew two of the other members of the team, and I--" she paused, "we had a friend in common, I went over to talk to him and you were there," she smiled slightly, looking out at the ocean, "you were... you were dating my cousin, too."

At that, he raised his eyebrows. "Wow. Awkward."

Chloe glanced at him and shook her head, "it was for a while, between you two, I mean," she told him quietly, watching him out of the corner of her eyes, "but we didn't start, well... our thing until years later and by then, you guys had become really good friends and she was very supportive."

He relaxed a little at that. "So before our...thing...we were friends?"

"Yeah," shifting slightly, Chloe turned to look at him, "we worked together a few weeks after we met," she smiled a little, "when I figured out your secret, and I knew one of the guys in your team were in trouble, I went over and offered to help, you were kinda shocked, but you let me help anyway."

"Beautiful and smart." He smiled a bit at that, glancing at her sideways.

Chloe paused and looked down, smiling slightly and shaking her head a little.

"What?" he asked softly, hesitantly reaching out and trailing his fingers over her hand.

"Nothing," she whispered, turning her hand for him and brushing her fingers against his hand, "it's just been a long time since I heard you saying those things to me..." and even back then, she always had a hard time accepting his compliments, but that never stopped him from repeating them over and over again.

Oliver swallowed hard, then looked down, his chest tightening. "Oh." He was quiet for a long moment. "Chloe?"

"Yeah?" She asked, raising her eyebrows a little and turning to look at him.

He didn't look at her. "Did I ever...was I good to you? Did I..." He blew out a breath. "Did I screw things up between us?"

Chloe's eyes widened a little and she shook her head, "no, Ollie," she took a deep breath, "you were amazing, and as much as I put up my defenses and tried to keep you at a safe distance, you kept trying and trying until you broke them all down," she swallowed and shook her head again, her voice breaking slightly, "being with you, it was the only time I was actually _happy_ and felt like myself in a relationship."

Oliver lifted his gaze to look at her. Without thinking about it, he raised his free hand to her face.

She leaned into his touch and sighed softly, "we were a really good team."

"I wish I could remember," he murmured. "I wish..." He shook his head a little.

"What?" She whispered, "tell me."

"I wish I could believe I was that guy you're describing. But all I remember is being the exact opposite." He let out a breath and gazed at her. "That guy who screwed up everything he touched. Who was a selfish ass." He paused. "It's why I let people believe Oliver Queen was dead even after I woke up."

Her chest tightened at his words and she shook her head, "that's so far from the person I know," Chloe took a deep breath, "you were-- _are_ ," she corrected herself, "an amazing man, and you gave up your whole life, even now, to help people, you gave up your money and you have been hiding because all you want to do with your life is help others, you don't care about yourself," she held his gaze, "look around, Ollie, all the memorials people have built for you, ask anyone in this city what they think of Oliver Queen and if they know _anything_ about what you did, they will tell you that if it wasn't for you, Star City wouldn't be the beautiful city it is today, it wouldn't have the great hospitals and shelters and if it wasn't for Green Arrow, even with you gone for so long, it wouldn't be as safe as it is."

She paused, "you alone, you helped so many people and you don't have to take my word for it, I have the articles to prove it. I can show you all the good you've done." Years back, she had decided to make a folder with all the old articles about Oliver Queen as well as Green Arrow, something she planned on showing Matthew once he was old enough to know the truth about who his dad really was.

The breath caught in his throat as he listened to her words, his gaze on her. He was silent for a long moment and then he looked down at their hands. "Why do I have a feeling you had a hand in me being that guy?"

Chloe pursed her lips together for a moment then smiled slightly, "we were a team," she said simply, "but I wouldn't have been able to do anything if you didn't have it in you in the first place."

Oliver brushed his thumb over the back of her hand again. "So what happens now? What if I can't remember any of that?" he asked quietly.

"Part of you already does," she pointed out quietly, then paused, squinting a little, "do you have... is there a scar on your chest?"

His eyebrows furrowed a little. "A scar?"

Her chest tightened a little at the look on his face, she figured that maybe, if he had the scar, maybe he was the original Oliver, _her_ Oliver. He felt like him. But if his chest was intact then... she would have to consider the clone theory once more, "like... a Z." She whispered.

He let go of her hand and hesitantly pulled his shirt up for her to examine, looking at her uncertainly.

Her face fell when she looked at his chest, unconsciously lifting a hand to touch his skin and shaking her head a little, "you don't." She murmured.

"I take it that's a bad thing." He frowned.

Chloe dropped her hand and looked up at his face again, "it doesn't make sense..."

"What doesn't?"

"You're here, somehow," she told him, "but you only have part of your memories and your body is as if you never got hurt..." she reached for his hand, running a thumb through the back of it, "you used to have another scar here, and that's gone too..." her chest was getting tighter and tighter the more she thought about it.

His frown deepened at the expression on her face. "What are you thinking?" He shook his head a little.

"I," but she stopped herself, she didn't want to lie to him, "I think... we should run some tests, we have a doctor we trust, and see if he can make sense of any of this." Chloe paused, taking his hand in hers again, "but all our labs and resources are in Metropolis."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Tests? Like a CAT scan?"

"Well," she paused, considering her words carefully, "like DNA and blood tests and compare the samples to what we have archived."

Oliver paused, too. "You don't think I'm me," he surmised.

"No," Chloe said with a shake of her head, "I think you _are_ you, just maybe... a different version of you."

He looked at her blankly. "I have no idea what you're getting at."

Chloe sighed, "I don't want to scare you," she told him, "but Lex Luthor could have something to do with this."

Oliver tensed at that. "Lex Luthor?" he echoed, his eyes narrowing. "What would he have to do with it?"

"You... tried to kill him, Ollie," she whispered, "we thought he was dead for a long time, but he's alive and he was messing with cloning a few years ago..." she told him quietly, turning to look at him and swallowing hard.

He stared at her. "I tried to _kill_ him?" His heart began to beat a little faster.

"He was hurting a lot of people," she explained, "do you know anything about metahumans?"

Oliver rubbed a hand over his face warily. "Are those people with special abilities?"

"Yes," she told him quietly, "all the other members of the team are metahumans," she told him quietly, "he experimented on all of them before and he had secret labs all over the world to experiment on people, he captured all of the ones he could find and turned them into his lab rats."

Her jaw tightened with anger and she shook her head, "you told me you were going to do it, I didn't try to stop you."

He winced a little. "So I tried to kill the guy and...you're thinking he retaliated? Had me cloned and I'm not really who I think I am?" He swallowed hard.

"I don't know anything for sure," she told him sincerely, "but it's the only thing that makes sense."

Oliver looked away, pulling his hand away from hers and rising to his feet, trying to absorb that information.

Chloe sighed deeply, looking at him over her shoulder for a second then out at the ocean again, doing her best to give him time to take everything in, idly wondering if Matthew and Mia were already awake in the floor beneath them and if Mia had found her note.

"I can't go to Metropolis." His voice was quiet and he turned around slowly to look at her once more.

Her face fell and she stood up, looking up at him, "why not?"

"I have responsibilities here. I can't leave the city unprotected. And..." He looked down for a moment. "I have someone here I'm taking care of."

Chloe looked at him suspiciously, trying not to overreact to the information, "who is it?"

Oliver glanced up at her again, uncertain. "His name's Neil Weatherford."

A him. She relaxed a little, "who is he?"

"An old man. I uh, helped him out and he gave a place to stay," he told her.

She cocked her head a little, "he can come with us."

A short chuckle escaped him. "He'll never agree to it, Chloe," he said softly.

"And he doesn't... have anyone else to help him?" She asked him quietly. If they went back to Metropolis, Chloe could have Matthew stay with Lois until she was ready to introduce the two of them, but if they stayed in Star City, there wasn't a way around this.

"He doesn't have any family." Oliver looked down.

"Oh," Chloe took a deep breath and rubbed her hands against her sides, "I will fly Dr. Hamilton in, then, I'm sure we can close down one of the Star City branch labs for a few days."

He was quiet for a moment. "All right."

Chloe kept her eyes on him for a long moment then took a step closer, "but if I'm going to stay, there are some things you'll need to know."

He turned to look at her. "Like what?" he asked uncertainly.

"I'm not in town by myself." She told him quietly.

It was his turn to gaze at her with a bit of suspicion. "Who are you here with?"

"Mia," she told him, "she's a girl you took under your wing before..." she trailed off, "she's been living with me since everything happened." Chloe paused and took a deep breath, watching him closely, "and my son."

Oliver's chest tightened at that. "Oh. That's..." His voice trailed off and he just nodded.

Chloe held her hands together, she didn't think he was ready to hear it, "Mia will want to see you."

"I don't remember anyone with that name," he said quietly.

"I'll prepare her," Chloe assured him, "but she saw you a few nights ago, while she was patrolling, we've been trying to find you since."

He frowned a little at that. "While she was patrolling?" he echoed.

"You trained her," she told him, "taught her archery, she was already a good fighter before you took her in," Chloe smiled softly at him, "you were really proud of her, she's really good."

He leaned back against the ledge for a moment. "How old is she?"

"Twenty-two," she told him. "You pick her up when she was sixteen."

Oliver blew out a breath, starting to feel a little overwhelmed by all the information. He looked away, out, over the city.

Chloe sighed softly and was glad she didn't tell him about Matthew, if he was having a hard time processing the information about Mia, "I'm sorry," she told him, "I know it's a lot to take in."

"Except it probably wasn't even me." He turned his head to look at her again.

"We don't know that," she told him, taking a step closer, "you remember me, and you remember the Watchtower in a way. Let's not draw any conclusions before we have more information."

Oliver swallowed hard. "Well, say it's true. Say I'm just some..." He gestured with his arms. "Clone of the real Oliver Queen. What happens then?"

"Then we protect you, we keep you as safe as possible because Lex will come after you," she said firmly.

"But why?" He shook his head a little. "If I'm not even the same guy you knew, why would you do that?"

"It doesn't matter if you're not him," she said quietly, surprised by her own words, "I'm not losing you again, because clone or not, in a way, you _are_ him."

He exhaled slowly, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. "You must have really cared about him."

"I do," she corrected him.

He held her gaze for a moment, the nodded and looked over the city once more.

Chloe hesitated, watching his back for a long moment then walking over to stand behind him, "for the record, even though all evidences point in the opposite direction, my gut feeling is that you _are_ him. I don't know how, but you... feel like him." She whispered.

Oliver closed his eyes for a moment, then turned to face her, his gaze traveling to her left hand. No ring there. "So your son. What's his name?" he asked quietly.

She noticed his gaze and she knew what he was thinking, but she was going to stick to answering his questions, "Matthew."

"When we met last night, it honestly never occurred to me that..." He shook his head a little. "I don't want to disrupt your life, Chloe."

"No, Ollie," she shook her head, looking up at him with big eyes, "you're not disrupting anything, I want you to be a part of my life again."

Oliver met her eyes. "And you're already a part of mine, I just...don't exactly know how."

The hint of a smile appeared on her lips and she nodded slightly, "let me help you figure that out."

He reached out hesitantly and touched her face. "Okay."

Chloe leaned into his touch and nodded, taking a deep breath, "is there anything else you wanna know? Or is that enough information?"

"I think that's probably enough for now," he said with a small smile.

She nodded, covering his hand with hers, "do you have to go somewhere?"

Oliver searched her eyes. "Not for awhile."

"Mia and Matthew are probably awake by now," she suggested quietly, "but if that's too much right now, I understand."

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "I'm not going to hide. Not if..." He looked down for a moment.

She raised an eyebrow a little, willing him to go on.

He drew in a breath and met her eyes. "Not if me hiding is hurting people."

"Everyone misses you," she admitted, "especially Mia, but I know this is a lot to take in as is, and Mia will probably have quite a reaction to seeing you again."

"Will it be better or worse for her?" he asked quietly. "I mean, how will she take it that I don't remember her?"

"We already had a pretty good idea that you didn't remember," she admitted, "if you did, you would have come to find us."

"Oh," he said with a slight nod. "Makes sense. I mean I can't imagine that I wouldn't have come back for you if I'd known your name."

Her heart skipped a beat and she smiled a little, "you found me anyway."

"Must be fate," he answered, gazing at her intently.

"Whatever it is, I'm grateful for it," she said quietly, holding his gaze.

He smiled a bit. "Me too."


	10. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: chloeas and dl_greenarrow  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[One](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html) | [Two](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/672384.html) | [Three](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/678875.html) | [Four](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/684594.html) | [Five](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/689971.html) | [Six](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/692290.html) | [Seven](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/694140.html) | [Eight](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/697544.html) | [Nine](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/702109.html) |

  
**July 6th, 2016**

After talking on the roof for a moment later, Chloe and Ollie decided to go downstairs so he could meet Mia. Chloe asked him to wait outside the room while she told Mia everything, about meeting him at the beach, about talking to him for hours, about him not remembering them, and once Mia was calm enough, Chloe told her he was sitting outside.

Matthew was distracted by the TV and his coloring books, which Chloe was grateful for, since he wasn't paying attention to their whispered conversation, but knowing he was about to meet his father, or who she believed to be his father, it made her nervous. And she had no doubt that Ollie would figure out whose Matthew was after talking to him for about five minutes, but if he didn't she would tell him eventually.

Chloe stepped out of the room and smiled a little at Oliver, her heart beating faster, "you can come in."

"Are you sure?" He rubbed the back of his neck worriedly.

She nodded, holding her hand out to him, "she wants to see you."

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly, sliding his hand into hers and slowly stepping inside the hotel suite. Almost immediately his gaze rested upon a young woman with long, dark hair and dark eyes. "Hi." His voice was quiet.

Mia stilled completely when she saw him, she considered running into one of the rooms and not coming out until he was gone, but she forced herself to stay, and look at him, glancing at Chloe for just a second before looking back at Oliver, not moving for a long time. She noticed he was holding Chloe's hand, so at least she knew he really wasn't a ghost, but she didn't know what he was.

He gazed back at her intently, trying to read her expression. "Mia, right?"

She nodded, looking down then back at him, it hurt that he didn't remember her name, but it was better than him not being there at all.

He smiled a bit, then looked at Chloe uncertainly.

Chloe smiled at him a little and nodded, squeezing his hand then turning to Mia, "why don't you sit down, I'll order us some breakfast."

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, hesitantly moving to sit down in one of the recliners.

Mia kept her eyes on him but didn't say anything, glancing at Chloe before taking a seat on the couch. She didn't know _what_ to say to him.

"Mommy," Chloe had just placed their order when she heard Matthew, she held her breath and turned to look at him, "what is it, honey?"

Oliver turned his head at the sound of the little voice and his eyes widened a little. "Hey. It's you." He grinned at the boy.

Matthew's eyes widened and he looked at the man, "you're the man from the park!" He squealed.

He nodded a little. "Same one, Kiddo."

Chloe looked between the two of them, then glanced at Mia before looking at Ollie, "you're the one who helped him with his arrow?" She asked curiously, a little relieved that it hadn't been a child abductor like she'd been afraid of at the time.

The little boy grinned at his mom and nodded, "he helped me and he liked Robin Hood too!"

"Well this is a weird..." Oliver's voice trailed off as he found himself gazing intently at the boy. Then he slowly turned his head to look at Chloe.

She pursed her lips together and looked back at Ollie, her heart pounding against her chest.

"Oh," he whispered, blinking a few times and then turning to look back at Matthew. "How old are you, Buddy?"

"Five!" He said with a grin holding up five fingers and walking over to Oliver's chair, "why are you here?"

Oliver swallowed hard, and glanced at Chloe. "Well, I'm...an old friend of your mom's."

Chloe took a deep breath, somehow managing to stop herself from tearing up and walking over to them slowly, looking at Oliver apologetically then kneeling down and rubbing a hand over Matthews back, "baby, you're still wearing your pjs, why don't you go get changed?"

"Okay!" He smiled at her, and then headed down the hallway, disappearing from sight.

Oliver sat motionless, his eyes a little glassy.

Mia shook her head a little and stood up, she knew Chloe should have told him before he met Matthew, "I'll go help him," she announced, speaking for the first time and following Matthew into the bedroom.

With a deep breath, Chloe stood up again and rubbed her face then looked over at Oliver, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you." She whispered.

"He is mine then, right? Or...Oliver's. If I'm not really..." He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again.

She nodded, taking a deep breath and sitting down on the edge of the couch, as close to him as she could sit, "he is."

"Wow," he murmured, slowly leaning back in the chair.

Chloe glanced toward the room then nodded a little, looking back at Ollie, "I should have told you before you came in here, but... I didn't know how to."

"Why would you?" His voice was quiet. "It's not like this was really a planned thing."

"No, it really wasn't," she said quietly, taking a deep breath.

There was sadness in his eyes as he looked at her. "He doesn't know, does he?"

She shook her head, her heart breaking a little at the look on his face, "he started asking questions about... his dad not long ago and I just told him he couldn't be with us and that I would explain when he was older."

He swallowed hard, nodding a little. "Yeah that...that makes sense. I mean, why put him through it?"

"I just wanted to wait to tell him when he was old enough to know that his dad didn't leave because he wanted to," Chloe told him quietly.

He nodded again, looking down at the floor. "I don't blame you."

"So you ran into him at the park," she said quietly, feeling like this was too big, too much for it to be a coincidence.

"Yeah." He smiled faintly, glancing at her. "The arrow was stuck up in the tree too high for him to reach."

"I was terrified," Chloe admitted, looking down then at him, "he vanished all of the sudden and then he came back saying a man had helped him, I thought he had almost been kidnapped."

Oliver winced a little at that. "I'm sorry. It's just...I don't see too many kids playing with a bow and arrow and I just thought..."

"It's not your fault," she assured him, "I guess Mia and I just got distracted for a moment and he ran off, but I'm glad it was you and he wasn't really in any danger."

He nodded a little. "I would never hurt a kid," he said quietly.

"I know," Chloe said quietly, watching him closely, "are you okay?"

He glanced at her, a faint smile on his lips. "Let's just say the last couple of days have been the most informative ones I can remember."

"Well," she smiled slightly, "if it makes you feel any better, you have the biggest pieces of the puzzle now, I think."

"Relieved to hear it." He ducked his head, smile getting just a little bigger.

She watched him, leaning over and rubbing her hand over his arm, "don't worry about processing it, take your time."

"At least one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle was something good." His voice was quiet.

Chloe squeezed his arm then pulled her hand back, her face softening, "I'm glad you think so."

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "I should be getting back," he said quietly. "Make sure Mr. Weatherford is doing all right."

"You don't wanna wait until the food gets here?" She asked, frowning a little.

"I don't generally eat breakfast," he told her with a small smile.

"Oh," she nodded a little, looking down then back at him, "if you have to go..."

This time, he reached over and put a hand on her arm. "I'll be out tonight. Patrolling. Maybe after, we could meet again."

Chloe swallowed and nodded a little, the thought of going so many hours without seeing him made her chest tight, but he had showed up once, he would be back, "I would like that," she told him quietly before adding, "I'll start working on getting the lab and I'll fly Dr. Hamilton here as soon as possible so we can start getting some answers."

He searched her eyes for a moment. "If I didn't need to check on the old man and have some time to think, I wouldn't go," he said softly. "But I promise I'll be back."

"Okay," she nodded, her face softening, "you probably do need some time." Chloe took a deep breath, "I'll be here, you can use the balcony or the door," she said with a soft smile.

"I'll be here," he promised, slowly rising to his feet.

Chloe stood up too and nodded, smiling a little at him, "I'll see you tonight."

He gave her arm a gentle squeeze and headed for the door.

She wanted nothing more than to stop him and wrap her arms around him, at least for a hug, but she watched him go instead, she had a lot to take care of before tonight, and possibly get some sleep.

* * *

Oliver had spent the day doing things around the small house that he'd been staying in. Cleaning, doing dishes, and just keeping Mr. Weatherford company in general.

He had a son.

Or possibly the man he may or may not have been cloned from had a son.

He patrolled hard and fast that night, taking down three muggers, a carjacker and broke up one fight that he thought had the potential to get ugly. Fortunately, it hadn't. By the time he made it to the roof of the Hilton, it was a little after Midnight, and as he landed soundlessly, he could hear Chloe's voice. He paused, unsure who she was talking to, and then he realized she was on the phone.

"I don't know, Lo," Chloe sighed softly, leaning her elbows against the railing and looking out at the beach, "it just... feels like him, it's so comfortable to be around him, despite all the things we were talking about, they were not easy subjects but it feels natural, like it did with Ollie."

He grew still at her words, a small, faint smile touching his lips. Then he drew in a breath and let it out slowly, pushing his hood back and off and removing his glasses before dropping onto the balcony. "Hey," he said quietly, wanting to alert her to his presence so she didn't think he was intentionally eavesdropping.

Chloe jumped, her eyes widening a little when he spoke and she turned to see him there, "I gotta go," she told her cousin, "yes, I will, I will, love you too, Lo, bye," she said quickly before hanging up, a smile appearing on her lips, "hi."

"Didn't mean to scare you," he said softly, leaning back against the rail.

"I know," she told him, smiling softly, "I'm just out of practice, I guess."

"You mean you're not used to vigilantes dropping onto your balcony at all hours of the night?" he teased.

"Not anymore," she smirked slightly, "one of the team members did that once, I had just gotten Matthew to fall asleep, he had been crying for four hours, he woke him up, I yelled at Bart for half an hour, and made him get Matthew to sleep, never happened again."

"Hardcore, Chloe." Amusement shone in his eyes. He paused. "Bart, huh? I'm assuming you don't mean Simpson."

"I was sleep deprived and wasn't allowed caffeine because I was breast feeding, be glad you missed that," she said without really thinking about it, "Bart Allen, he's our speedster, a lot like Bart Simpson, actually."

He watched her for a long moment, wondering how much he or the real Oliver Queen had missed out on. "How was your day?"

"Productive," she told him, taking a deep breath, "the lab should be ready for us in a couple of days."

"That long?" He drew in a breath, too.

She nodded and sighed softly, "I called Tess and she'll see if she can move them to another branch before that, but Dr. Hamilton will be in first thing tomorrow to collect samples, that way he can start working on the simpler tests."

He winced a little. "Does she know? That I'm..."

"No," she told him quietly, "I'm sure she'll put two and two together soon enough, but I haven't told her."

Oliver relaxed a little. "Thank you." He paused. "I'm not sure I'm ready to deal with Me--Tess yet."

"Mercy," she nodded, smiling a little, "you always called her that."

"Right." He smiled a little, almost sheepish. Of course she knew that.

"How are you feeling?" Chloe asked quietly, stepping closer to look better at him, Matthew was sleeping and Mia decided to patrol, relieve the stress, she said, so at least they could talk for a while.

"A little tired. But I'm all right," he said just as quietly. "How are _you_ feeling?" He gazed at her.

"Same, actually," she had managed to nap for a couple hours in the afternoon with her son, but she had a lot of phone calls to make so she had been busy for most of the day, "you seem a little less overwhelmed, I'm guessing that's a good thing." She herself felt a little more relaxed.

"I'll be even better once I know for sure if I'm me or not," he said softly. "How's Matthew?"

"We'll get started on it tomorrow," she told him, "it won't matter either way, Oliver." She told him sincerely then took a deep breath, "he's sleeping, do you wanna peek?"

"You don't mind?" His voice dropped a little.

"Of course not," she told him quietly, "he sleeps like a rock _now_ ," she smiled and stepped inside, "c'mon."

He swallowed hard, slowly following her into the hotel room. He set down his glasses on the table and then followed her to the bedroom, holding his breath.

She opened the door and stepped inside, holding the door open for him, nodding in encouragement.

Oliver glanced at her, and then slowly moved a little closer to the bed where the little blonde lay sleeping. His chest tightened as he watched the steady rise and fall of his chest. _My son_ , he thought with a pang. And he'd missed five years of his life.

Chloe stayed behind, a lump in her throat as she watched them, she never thought Ollie would actually get to meet Matthew, she never imagined this would somehow happen, even if things didn't happen between them, now _their_ son would have a dad, and that was more than she could ever ask for.

"He's so small," he whispered, turning to look at her, his eyes blurry with unshed tears.

"He's small for his age," Chloe told him quietly, stepping forward, her own eyes tearing up.

"I was when I was his age, too," he murmured.

"I still am," she teased quietly, "here's hoping he took after you."

He smiled at that. "I don't know. I think we'd be pretty lucky if he took after his mom."

Chloe shook her head, stepping closer, "he's a mini you, the way he talks, his smile, the obsession with green and arrows and Robin Hood..."

Oliver looked back at the boy, swallowing hard. "I wish I'd been there," he whispered. "For all of it."

"Now you can be," she whispered, placing a hand on his back, "if you want to."

He turned his head to gaze at her in the semi-darkness of the room. "What if it's not safe?"

"We'll protect both of you," she held his gaze, "we have help."

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, resting his head against hers for a moment.

Chloe sighed softly and lifted a hand to his back, rubbing it gently again, "it's still hard to believe, but I'm so glad you are here."

"And it really won't bother you if it turns out I"m not..."

"No," she told him, "I... you just, you feel _right_."

He hesitated a moment, then turned and wrapped his arms around her waist.

She stepped closer, her heart beating faster, "you feel it too, don't you?"

Oliver closed his eyes. "I feel a connection to you that I don't understand," he said quietly.

Chloe sighed softly and watched him, lifting a hand to touch his cheek, she wanted to tell him she loved him, but she knew it wasn't time, she had been waiting over six years, maybe she would finally get to now, eventually, "you have a lot to figure out, take your time..."

He leaned into her touch, gazing back at her. "I don't want to lose anymore time, Chloe."

"Neither do I," she told him quietly, "but it's a lot to take in and... it's been six years, a couple more weeks or even months are better than never seeing you again."

Oliver slowly pulled away from her. "Right," he whispered.

She blinked, a little disappointed but nodding slightly, "I just want you to be comfortable with everything."

"So we do the tests." He looked down at Matthew, trying to ignore the knot that had formed in his stomach. "Are you uh--will you guys be going back to Metropolis?"

"I don't know," Chloe admitted, "he's on vacation until September, so we have time to figure everything out," she paused and took a deep breath, "if... you're comfortable with it, I don't want us to be away from you anymore."

He looked back at her. "I don't want you to leave, but you have a life already. I can't ask you to sacrifice that."

"Metropolis is just a city," she told him, her eyes tearing up, "I can help the team from anywhere, I meant what I said, Ollie, I'm not losing you again."

Oliver slowly reached out and took her hand, threading his fingers through hers. "Okay," he whispered.

She squeezed his hand a little, "do you want some time?" She nodded at Matthew, "I can step out."

"I'd rather you stayed." His voice was soft. "If you don't mind."

"I don't," she smiled a little up at him.

"Matthew's not the only one I've missed out on," he said quietly.

Her face softened a little and she nodded slightly, "I've missed you so much."

He lifted a hand to her cheek, then slowly leaned in and kissed her forehead, exhaling slowly.

Chloe closed her eyes and sighed softly, she wished he'd remember, even if he felt their connection, she wished he'd remember what they were like, so she could tell him how long she had been forcing herself to ignore her feelings for him and how much she loved him. Now she was ready to tell him, but he wasn't ready to hear it.

"Are you all right?" His voice was soft. "I know this is a lot for you to deal with, too."

"Yeah," she took a deep breath, squeezing his hand, "it's pretty overwhelming, even if not nearly as much as it is for you."

"Think that'll wear off soon?" He asked quietly.

"It's already a lot better than it was last night," she pointed out quietly.

"Good." He rested his head against hers.

She sighed softly and looked over at her son, a soft smile appearing on her lips, "maybe you can come by during the day tomorrow, Dr. Hamilton shouldn't land until noon or so, and you can spend some more time with Matthew."

"Chloe?" His voice was soft. "What exactly are we going to tell him?"

"Oh," she frowned a little, "I don't know..."

He drew in a breath. "I don't want to confuse or upset him."

"I think, if he asks, we can stick to friend, and... once you feel comfortable enough, we can tell him who you really are," she told him, "Matthew is pretty easy going, usually."

Oliver nodded slightly, looking down at the boy as he turned onto his side, one arm draped over the side of the bed. A small smile touched Oliver's lips. "Does he do that a lot?"

"When he gets hot," she told him, reaching down and pulling the blanket from over him, leaving only the sheets.

"I do that too," he whispered.

Chloe raised her eyebrows a little and smiled, "you did?"

"Still do sometimes," he admitted.

She reached up and touched his cheek, "I want to watch the two of you eating an apple next to each other," she told him with a soft smile, "I think it's the thing he does that reminds me of you the most."

Oliver gazed at her, cocking his head to the side a little. "Really?"

Nodding, she raised her eyebrows a little, "I used to watch you all the time, I've never seen someone eat around the top of the apple first then make their way down in circles, and he does it the exact same way you did."

He felt heat warm his cheeks at her words. "Oh," he whispered, a soft smile touching his lips as he looked down at the floor.

Chloe relaxed when she saw the look on his face, at least some things were the same, actually the only thing that wasn't the same so far was the fact he didn't have Ollie's scars, "you need to see it."

"I'd like to," he agreed with a slight nod, glancing back up at her. "Thanks for...letting me have that chance."

"Thank you for wanting to be around him and for accepting him so easily," she told him, "I never thought he would actually have a dad."

He paused at that, holding her gaze. He reached out and took her hand once more, gazing down at Matthew as he lay sleeping.

She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his shoulder, smiling slightly, they already felt like a family.


	11. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: [](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/profile)[**chloeas**](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/) and [](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/profile)[**dl_greenarrow**](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/)  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[Chapter 1](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html) \- [Chapter 2](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/672384.html) \- [Chapter 3](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/678875.html) \- [Chapter 4](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/684594.html) \- [Chapter 5](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/689971.html) \- [Chapter 6](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/692290.html) \- [Chapter 7](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/694140.html) \- [Chapter 8](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/697544.html) \- [Chapter 9](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/702109.html) \- [Chapter 10](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/708445.html)

**July 7th, 2016**

Oliver cast a wary glance at Chloe, then at Mia as Dr. Emil Hamilton finished taking his blood. The guy hadn't taken his eyes off Oliver for the entire hour he'd been there.

It was bordering on eery. Granted, the doctor had reason to stare. Seeing one of your friends (had they been friends or was Hamilton more of an employee?) who'd supposedly died six years previously wasn't exactly run-of-the-mill. And Chloe and Mia both seemed to have the same difficulty, though it was less strange with them. At least there he knew what kind of relationship he'd had with each of them.

Chloe smiled softly at him and nodded. Tess had been able to reschedule the lab and they were able to get in there as soon as Dr. Hamilton landed, Oliver had already been over so the four of them met up with Dr. Hamilton there and the tests were being run. Matthew was sitting pressed up against her side, working on a some drawings he wanted to make and Mia was pacing on the other end of the lab.

"How many days do you think it will take us to have a conclusive result?" She asked the doctor, who aside from her cousin, had been the only one Chloe had actually told what was going on.

"Up to thirty-six hours, no more than that," he assured her, keeping his eyes on Oliver still.

"Don't suppose there's a way to rush that?" Oliver spoke up, glancing at the doctor hopefully.

"I'll try," he said, "but this lab isn't as advanced as our Metropolis facility."

"Well, maybe we can have Bart run you and the samples back?" Chloe suggested, glancing carefully at Matthew to make sure he didn't pick up on what was odd about that sentence, she hated discussing business around him, but they didn't have a choice today.

At that, even Oliver raised an eyebrow, though he didn't question it. She'd referred to Bart as their 'Speedster' and while he assumed that meant the guy could run fast, he hadn't really considered just _how_ fast he might be able to run.

Dr. Hamilton looked at Chloe, for the first time taking his eyes off of Oliver, "I suppose we could--"

"That won't be necessary." A new voice spoke up a low growl.

Chloe turned around to look and stilled, she hadn't been expecting to see _him_.

"Arthur sent me," he told the woman, carrying a big and heavy-looking suitcase into the room.

"Who the hell are you?" Oliver stared at the other man, who could only be described as wearing a costume that resembled a giant _bat_.

"Batman," he grunted and in that same second, Chloe's phone started ringing.

She blinked and picked it up, it was Arthur, "Hey, yes, he hm, he just got in here. Okay. Thank you." She didn't even know how _A.C._ knew Oliver was back, but she had the feeling her cousin had something to do with it.

With a deep breath, Chloe turned to the man in the costume, "how can you help?"

Matthew, however, had a different question, "You're _Batman_? Wow!"

Oliver frowned a little, looking from Matthew to Chloe to 'Batman'. "Why are you here?" he asked suspiciously.

Mia just stared wide-eyed.

"To help," without another word, he set his steel suitcase in a corner, and opened it to reveal what looked like a small lab.

Chloe shook her head at Matthew and held on to his hand tightly as both of them stood up, "Arthur is one of the team members, he and Batman have worked together before and somehow Arthur heard about you and thought he could help," she told Oliver.

He arched an eyebrow and looked over at the various equipment in the briefcase. "Yeah, well, the actual doctor already did all the tests."

Emil's eyebrows raised at that. "Looks like he plans to run a few more than I was."

"Not until I see his MD license," Oliver retorted.

Batman didn't pay attention to them, he picked up the blood sample that the doctor had just collected and started testing on the blood, "do it my way and you'll have your results in six hours." He said simply.

Chloe ran her hand over Matthew's hair and kept her eyes on Oliver, her eyes a little wide, "Arthur trusts him," she told him quietly.

He met Chloe's eyes for a moment, then shifted his gaze to what 'Batman' was doing. "As long as you don't try to get near me with a needle," he responded warily.

Mia smirked. "Who knew you were scared of needles?"

He rolled his eyes. "Only when they're handled by people who aren't trained to handle them."

Chloe smirked a little at Mia, it was nice to know she was comfortable enough with him to tease him, "fast results might be worth it?"

Dr. Hamilton looked at the other man, "all the other samples are here," he pointed at the container, he had learned a long time ago not to ask too many questions.

Oliver raked a hand through his hair and looked warily at Batman, then over at Chloe silently.

Mia looked back at Chloe, as well, a small, faint smile on her face. "Why don't I take Matthew for a walk?"

She gave Mia a grateful look and nodded a little, mouthing 'thank you' to the younger woman.

"I wanna stay!" Matthew protested with a pout.

"You'll come back," Chloe assured him, "you and Mia will just get some ice cream and we'll still be here when you get back."

Oliver smiled at him. "Maybe you guys could bring me back some mint chocolate chip while you're at it?"

Matthew looked up at him, "that's my favorite too!" He said with a grin, then looked at his mom, "promise he'll still be here?" He asked quietly, the man had vanished when he went to change and he didn't want that to happen again.

"I promise," she told him, kissing the top of his head.

"Yeah, I'm not going anywhere, Buddy," Oliver promised with a small smile. "See you soon." He watched Mia lead the little boy away and out the door. Then he drew in a breath and looked at Emil.

"Well. It looks like things are under control here. I think I'll go grab some lunch," Emil said with a slight nod.

"Whoa, wait a second." Oliver glanced at Batman, and then back at Emil with a frown. "You're the doctor here."

Batman grunted but didn't look away from his 'lab'.

"Go ahead," Chloe told Emil, smirking a little and shaking her head at Oliver, "I'll give you a call if we need anything."

"Aren't you supposed to be backing me up?" he grumbled as Emil quickly took off.

"I am," she said, moving to stand by the bed Ollie was on, "I'm not going anywhere and I'll make sure you're okay."

"How long are you going to need me physically _here_?" he asked, glancing at Batman.

"You can leave after I extract spinal fluid." He told him.

A short, humorless chuckle escaped him. "Yeah, no. I don't think so." He slid off the bed.

"That sounds a little too extreme," Chloe said protectively, holding Oliver's arm to help him out of the bed.

Batman turned around a second later, holding a small, neon-lit box in Oliver's direction so he could place his fingers over the surface, "fingerprints."

Oliver eyed him suspiciously, but reluctantly held his hand out and placed his fingers over the box. "Do clones have the same fingerprints as the original?"

Batman lifted a gloved hand and pressed Oliver's fingers more firmly, "No." He grunted.

Chloe held her breath, "I thought they were supposed to."

"Small, nearly untraceable differences." Batman explained, "you can leave."

"Six hours then? And we'll know for sure?" Oliver looked up at him, this time his expression serious and his voice free of all smart-assness.

"Yes," he stared at Oliver for a second then turned his back to them.

"Thank you," Chloe told Batman quietly then looked over at Oliver.

His eyebrows furrowed for a moment, then he nodded. "All right. Thanks." Frowning a little, he hesitantly took Chloe by the arm and led her toward the exit.

Once they were outside of the room, Chloe frowned a little, "you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he murmured.

"What do you want to do while we wait for Mia and Matthew?" She asked, still not convinced he was okay, but she wasn't going to push him.

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "Stay out of sight?" he suggested.

"Yeah," she agreed, "I know a place." Without waiting for an answer, she took his hand and led him toward the back of the building.

Oliver slid his fingers through hers without a second thought, letting her guide him. "Where are we going?" he asked curiously.

"I got lost in this building last time I was in town," she explained, turning right on one of the corridors, "and stumbled upon this place..." Chloe slid her keycard in one of the doors and opened it to a small, indoor garden, "I assume you knew about it?"

He raised an eyebrow and shook his head a little, looking around. "No, but it's pretty." He turned to look at her.

"You didn't?" She was actually surprised by that, even though there was a lot he didn't remember, it seemed that he knew enough about Queen Industries, "it's nice and I don't think a lot of people come in here."

"A well-kept secret, apparently," he said with a small smile. He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, gazing at her. "So six hours. That's better than a few days, right?"

"Yeah," she told him, smiling slightly, "it also means Lois told AC, who probably told Bart, Victor and Dinah, who are the other members of our team, and I have the feeling they will be waiting for us at the hotel when we get back."

"Yeah, well, let's hope they're not in for disappointment." His voice grew quiet and he looked down for a moment. "So Matthew's favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip, too?"

"It is," she told him, rubbing her free hand over his arm, "he's also allergic to peanuts."

"Poor kid." He frowned at that. "Any other allergies?"

"No, I had him tested for everything when we found out about that one," she told him quietly.

He swallowed hard. "How did you find out about that one?"

"It wasn't fun," Chloe admitted, "we were having ice cream and Mia was having peanut butter chocolate and he wasn't even eighteen months yet, he wanted to try it, Bart ran us into the emergency room, and he was fine, but his tongue was swollen and if we had gotten there a little bit later," she shook her head a little.

Oliver grimaced. "Anaphalactic shock. But uh, everything turned out all right, so that's good," he murmured.

"Yeah," she agreed, "Dr. Hamilton was able to come up with a pill he can take if it ever happens again and it should cut the symptoms immediately, but luckily, I haven't had to use it."

"Hopefully you never will." He looked down at their hands and blew out a breath.

"Hopefully," she agreed, squeezing his hand and watching him.

"Can you tell me more about the team?" His voice was quiet.

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded a little, "I told you about Bart, kinda, he's the youngest one, well, besides Mia, he has superspeed and can literally run around the world in less than five minutes."

Oliver stared at her, his eyes a little wide. "Around the world? Like, across water too?"

She raised an eyebrow and nodded a little, "he moves so fast, he doesn't sink, he was the first one you recruited."

"I can see where that kind of speed could come in handy," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Who's Arthur?"

"Codeman, Aquaman, Bart's is Impulse, by the way," she told him, "Most people call him A.C., he is kinda like a fish, he can swim faster than Bart can run and he can breathe under water for long periods of time, he also has some kind of telepathic ability with sea creatures."

Now she was just making things up. Wasn't she? He gaped at her. "He can talk to fish? With his brain?"

Chloe laughed softly and nodded, "think... Dr. Dolittle under water."

The sound of her laughter made him smile. "Should have used that as his codename."

She grinned a little, "you can always suggest a codename change when you see him."

"You have a nice laugh," he told her, smiling a bit more.

Raising an eyebrow, she smiled, looking at him, "thank you."

He nodded, holding her gaze. "What else?" he asked softly.

"Victor, AKA Cyborg," she told him, idly brushing her fingers over his arm, "he's our half-human, half-machine man, he can hack any computer, Queen Industries designed an entire program just for him, well, he designed it himself with your money," she told him with a soft smirk, "to keep him updated."

Oliver did his best to ignore the chill that raced down his spine at the light touch of her fingers on his bare skin. "Sounds pretty useful considering how much information is stored on computers these days."

Chloe nodded, "it is, especially breaking in and out of places," she raised her eyebrows a little, "then there is Dinah, Black Canary, she has been helping another team in Gotham a lot too, but she helps us whenever needed, she's a really good fighter and she also has what she calls a sonic scream."

"A sonic scream?" he echoed, eyebrows furrowing once more. He shook his head a little. "What's that?"

"You can't really hear anything, but it can shatter glass, and small objects and take opponents down, it's like a super-sonic frequency that she can reach and it literally makes your head feel like it's going to explode," she would know.

Oliver winced a little at that. "Sounds painful. Who else?"

"Well, you know about Mia, her codename is Speedy," Chloe said with a small smile as she decided if she should tell him about Clark or not.

He paused. "Does she have superspeed powers like Bart?" he asked uncertainly.

"Her only superpower is her attitude," Chloe said with a smile and shook her head, "Mia is one hundred percent human."

Oliver smiled a bit. "Here I was starting to think I was the only one on the team that was basically useless." He winced. "Not that Mia's useless. That didn't--quite come out the right way." He exhaled.

Chloe grinned a little and squeezed his arm, "she would kick your ass for that," she teased, "and if it wasn't for you, there wouldn't be a team to begin with."

"Good thing she's not here and didn't hear me. She probably could." He smirked a little. "And you do all the behind the scenes stuff. What's your codename?"

"Watchtower," she told him, smiling softly, "you named me."

"Watchtower watches over the team," he murmured, gazing at her. "Fitting."

Chloe nodded, hugging his arm a little, "I thought so too."

He was quiet for a moment. "And that place in Metropolis that we used to work--that was Watchtower, too?"

"Yeah," she told him quietly, "but we've been mostly operating from the clock tower in the past few years, it's easier with Matthew."

He nodded a little. "And we met in a barn." A hint of a smile tugged at his lips.

At that, Chloe stilled, raising her eyebrows to look at him, "what did you just say?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "That we...met in a barn?"

"I never told you that," she told him, her heart beating faster, she knew she hadn't told him details when he asked how they met, just that it had been through a friend in common, because she didn't want to explain Clark, or bring him up at all.

He stared at her for a moment. "You didn't?" His eyes widened just a little. "But that's true? That's where we met?" His own heart sped up a little.

She pursed her lips together and nodded, smiling as she looked at him, hopeful, "it is, in Smallville, do you remember?"

Oliver was quiet for a moment, closing his eyes and trying to picture it. He let out a breath. "I don't remember Smallville, but...were you wearing green? Or is that just something I've made up in my mind?"

"I was," she told him, and the only reason she remembered that was because she had completely ruined that top with bleach that same day. Chloe turned until she was standing in front of him, "what else do you remember?"

"Your hair was pulled back with a..." He gestured to her hair. "Barrette thing. And you were smiling."

She took his other hand in hers and squeezed it, grinning brightly, "how could I not be?"

He held onto both of her hands, his heart skipping a beat at the sight of that smile. "Just like that," he whispered.

Chloe smiled up at him, watching him closely, "you remember."

"I remember you," he said softly.

Her chest tightened a little and she pulled her hands from his then stepped closer, wrapping her arms tightly around him. She couldn't believe that this could be anyone but _her_ Oliver. It had to be him.

He held her back just as tightly, burying his face against her shoulder. "I really want to be him," he whispered, his chest tightening, as well.

Chloe clung to him as tightly as she could, turning her face and pressing her nose to the side of his neck, "to me, you are him."

Oliver shut his eyes, drawing in a breath. He hoped she'd still feel that way if it turned out he really _wasn't_ the original Oliver Queen. Because having so many things he'd wanted for such a long time dangled in front of him and being unable to have them would be torture.


	12. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: chloeas and dl_greenarrow  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[One](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html) | [Two](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/672384.html) | [Three](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/678875.html) | [Four](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/684594.html) | [Five](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/689971.html) | [Six](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/692290.html) | [Seven](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/694140.html) | [Eight](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/697544.html) | [Nine](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/702109.html) | [Ten](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/708445.html) | [Eleven](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/711816.html) |

**July 7th, 2016**

Six hours later found Chloe, Oliver, Mia and Matthew waiting _outside_ the lab, Batman and Dr. Hamilton were talking inside, and apparently, Batman preferred that Emil told them the results to the tests, Matthew had fallen asleep, head on Mia's lap and his shirt covered in ice cream and the rest of them looked restless.

A few moments later the doors finally opened, Batman came out and stared at Oliver for a long moment then nodded at them before turning around and leaving.

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded at Oliver, "we can lay Matthew down on the bed inside," she told him.

Mia shook her head, "go ahead, I'll wait here, just come tell me as soon as you know."

 

"Thanks, Mia," Oliver said quietly, glancing at the younger girl before rising to his feet. He swallowed hard, glancing back in the direction Batman had gone and feeling his chest tighten. He slowly headed for the entrance to the lab. "Why do I feel like I'm facing a firing squad?" he mumbled.

"Come on," Chloe said, taking his hand again and starting into the lab, she saw Emil, staring down at the results with wide eyes.

"So what's the verdict, Doc?" Oliver asked warily, unconsciously gripping a little tighter onto Chloe's hand.

"It's you," Emil said simply, staring at the papers a moment longer than over at Oliver and Chloe, "I don't know how, but it's you." He had collected evidence from the scene himself, Oliver's DNA, or what had been left of him was there, Chloe had had the images to proof, but somehow, he was there, alive again.

"You're sure?" He stared at Emil. "One hundred percent sure?" It seemed too good to be true.

 

"No doubt about it," he told them, "with the tests Batman ran on the samples, we would have found differences between what we had on you from before and what we collected today, everything matches perfectly."

Chloe's eyes were tearing up again and her grip on his hand was so tight, she was sure she would break it if she was stronger. It was him, _her_ Ollie, Matthew's father, the man she had been in love with for all those years. He was back, he was standing right next to her and he was _remembering_ her.

Slowly she looked from the doctor and up to him, she knew it was him all along, but it felt so good to be sure.

Oliver met her gaze for a moment, offering her a quick smile, before looking back at Emil once more. "What about my memory?" He squeezed Chloe's hand, his heart beating quickly in his chest. "How long's it going to take me to get the rest of it back?"

"I don't know," Dr. Hamilton said honestly, "I don't know _how_ you're back, or why you're missing a chunk of your memory, we can run some tests and see if anything else comes up, but you don't have amnesia."

That wasn't exactly the answer he'd been hoping for and his face fell a little, though he nodded. "All right. Are we ready to run those tests now? Here?"

Chloe frowned a little, "maybe you'll get your memory back with time, it's already starting to come back to you."

Emil watched Chloe then shook his head at Oliver, "not right now, I need more equipment, maybe Bart can help me?"

Chloe nodded a little, "I'll give him a call."

"I'll uh...I'll go let Mia know." Oliver glanced at Chloe. "If that's okay."

"I'll take care of that, and I'll call Bart," Emil said, noticing the look on Chloe's face, he nodded at her then started out of the room, pausing to pat Oliver's shoulder, "good to have you back."

 

"Thanks," he said softly, watching the other man head away before turning his attention back to Chloe.

She looked up at him, tears threatening to spill as she turned to face him, "I knew it was you," she whispered.

Oliver lifted a hand to touch her cheek. "Somehow I get the feeling you have a lot more faith in me than I do." He swallowed hard.

Chloe looked at him for a moment then shook her head, tiptoeing so she could wrap her arms around his neck, "I can't believe you are back," she whispered, sobbing quietly.

He hesitated a moment, then leaned down just a little, picking her up off her feet and sitting down on the hospital gurney with her in his arms. "It's okay," he whispered, rubbing her back gently.

She adjusted slightly on his lap and turned her face on his neck, taking a deep breath, there was so much she wanted to tell him, hoping it would trigger his memory, she wanted to apologize for not telling him about Matthew, but she knew it wouldn't make sense until he remembered.

Oliver turned his head and kissed her cheek softly, hugging her a little tighter. "Mr. Weatherford told me he didn't believe in coincidences. Back before I found you on the beach. When I was dreaming about you."

Chloe leaned her face against his and took a deep, shaky breath, "I don't think I do anymore, either."

He stroked his fingers down her back. "This...leaves a lot of questions that need to be answered."

"I know," she whispered, finally lifting her head to look up at him.

Oliver gazed at her. "So now what?" he asked softly.

"Now we get you your memories back," she told him quietly, reaching up to touch his hair gently.

He let out a breath, closing his eyes and leaning into her touch. "Here's hoping."

Chloe leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek, closing her eyes too, "whatever it is, we'll figure it out, what matters is that you're here."

"Glad you think so," Oliver said quietly.

"You should listen to me," she told him, her voice just as quietly.

 

He leaned his forehead against hers. "Should I be nervous about how the rest of the team is going to take this?"

"No," she assured him, "Lois probably already told them and I'm sure Emil is updating Bart right now, but if you want me to, I will talk to them before you see them."

"I just...don't really know what to expect. And I don't really like not being prepared," he admitted.

 

"How can I help?" She asked quietly then closed her eyes when a strong wind hit them. She opened her eyes slowly, not even thinking of moving from her position on his lap yet, and fully expected to see Bart there, but was surprised to see Clark instead.

Her jaw immediately tensed and she slid down from Ollie's lap, "what are you doing here?"

"This isn't--" He paused before he said _Bart_. "The one you told me about?" he asked uncertainly, looking from the new arrival--a tall man with dark hair and blue eyes--back to Chloe.

"No," Chloe told Oliver, stepping forward protectively so she was between the two men, even if she knew in the back of her mind that it was pointless.

"I can help," Clark offered quietly, looking from Chloe to Oliver.

"Like you did last time?" She demanded, hands turning into fists.

"Chloe," he sighed and shook his head, taking a step forward.

"Whoa." Oliver held a hand up warily. "Someone want to fill me in?" He looked between them again, seeing the obvious tension on Chloe's face, and the wariness on the man's.

Chloe glanced at Oliver for a second then looked back at Clark, "I will. As soon as he leaves." She didn't want Clark anywhere near Oliver.

Clark took a deep breath, "I know you don't want my help," he tried, shoulders hunching, "but Lois told me about his memory, the fortress can help."

 

"Fortress?" Oliver echoed, eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "Who are you?"

"I'm Clark," he said quietly, focusing on Oliver.

"Have you heard about Superman, Ollie?" Chloe asked, keeping her eyes on Clark.

He paused at that, glancing from Chloe to Clark and back again. "I read a few stories that mentioned him," he responded uncertainly.

"Well, this is him," she told him, eyes narrowing, "he didn't work with the team unless it was convenient for him, he had the habit of letting the rest of us get involved once it was time to clean up his messes."

Clark swallowed and looked down, letting out a deep breath.

"But he's here now," Chloe continued, her face completely blank, "because _he_ let you die and he wants to help so he doesn't have that on his conscience anymore."

Oliver reached out and rested a hand lightly on her arm. "I'm here now, too," he whispered, not liking the expression on her face. Like she was beyond angry. He glanced back at Clark warily.

"Chloe," Clark pleaded quietly, "listen to me, the fortress can restore his memory, you know it can and you can go back to your life. The one you should have had."

"What's the fortress?" he asked, gazing intently at the other man.

"It's my link to my heritage," Clark explained.

"Clark isn't from Earth," Chloe added, glancing at Oliver.

At that, he blinked a couple of times. "But the others are?" He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yes," Chloe answered, taking a deep breath and glancing at Clark then back at Oliver, "there's a force in the fortress, Clark's biological father and at his request, it can alter people's memories," her eyes narrowed a little and she looked at Clark again.

Clark took a deep breath, "it won't hurt you." He assured Oliver.

Oliver glanced at Chloe sideways, taking in her increased tension. "I think I'm gonna have to pass on that right now." He gave Chloe's arm a gentle squeeze.

Nodding a little, Clark sighed, "let me know if you change your mind, Chloe knows how to reach me," he told Oliver quietly before speeding away.

Chloe closed her eyes once more at the strong wind and sighed deeply, rubbing her hands over her face.

He hesitantly slid an arm around her waist. "Why do I get the feeling there's a lot of history there?"

She leaned heavily into him and wrapped her arms around him, "because there is."

Oliver rested his chin atop her head. "Let's...go somewhere. Where we can talk."

"Okay," she agreed quietly, taking a deep breath.

He held her for a moment longer, rubbing her back. "Should we just go back to the hotel?"

"Yeah," she told him, "I need to give Matt dinner and he needs to go to bed soon."

Oliver nodded. "Why don't I meet you back there in about an hour and a half?"

"Are you gonna go check on Mr. Weatherford?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah. I need to fix him dinner," he confessed. "Otherwise he'll just end up eating cereal."

"Okay," she watched him for a moment then leaned in, kissing his cheek, "I'll see you soon."

He felt his chest tighten at the kiss, then nodded slowly. "All right." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and then led her to the door.


	13. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: [](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/profile)[**chloeas**](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/) and [](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/profile)[**dl_greenarrow**](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/)  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[Chapter 1](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html) \- [Chapter 2](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/672384.html) \- [Chapter 3](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/678875.html) \- [Chapter 4](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/684594.html) \- [Chapter 5](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/689971.html) \- [Chapter 6](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/692290.html) \- [Chapter 7](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/694140.html) \- [Chapter 8](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/697544.html) \- [Chapter 9](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/702109.html) \- [Chapter 10](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/708445.html) \- [Chapter 11](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/711816.html) \- [Chapter 12](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/717148.html)

**July 7th, 2016**

"But it's him? I mean it's definitely, one hundred percent for sure _our_ Oliver?" Mia paced the floor, back and forth, over and over again. "Not even a little doubt?" She swallowed hard, her heart beating quickly in her chest. She'd asked the same question at least twenty times in the last hour and a half, and before that she'd interrogated Emil about it for nearly twenty minutes as Matthew napped on her lap. She was glad the boy was asleep again now, and this time in his own bed, because her nerves were shot and she couldn't seem to sit still.

"It is," Chloe assured her, "they tested everything, he's not a clone, he's the same Oliver we knew, minus the memory of us," she said quietly from where she was sitting on the couch.

"But he'll get that back, right?"

"We're working on that," she assured Mia, "it might take a while, but we'll have him back one hundred percent."

Her eyes were bright, filled with actual hope as she nodded quickly. "I can't believe this is real. It is real, right? And not just another dream?" She and Chloe had talked off and on over the last few years about how vividly they both dreamt about this kind of thing happening. "I'm awake. I feel awake. Do you feel awake?"

"We're awake," Chloe reached over and took Mia's hand, smiling softly, "I don't know how this is all happening, but it's real, he's here."

She forced herself to take a deep breath and she sat down on the sofa beside Chloe, squeezing her hand in return. "Well, let's not do that gifthorse thing. I don't need to know _how_. He's back and that's all I care about."

"That's all I care about too," she told Mia, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "we have him back and Matthew will have his dad once Ollie is ready, I don't care about details."

"Details are overrated." She leaned into Chloe's embrace.

Chloe placed a kiss on Mia's temple and nodded, "how are you doing with everything?"

"Better," Mia assured her, glancing anxiously toward the door.

"He'll be here soon," Chloe told her, glancing at the door too.

"Yeah. I know. I'm just..." She drew in a breath. "Happy."

Chloe held her breath for a moment and hugged Mia closer, "I think it's the first time I ever heard you say that."

She was quiet for a moment, hugging Chloe back. "I've never heard you say it either," Mia said quietly.

"I don't think happy quite covers it," she whispered, looking over at the balcony.

"Ecstatic?" the younger woman suggested. "Thrilled? Exuberant? Jubliant?"

Chloe smiled a little, "I'll let you know when the shock wears off."

Mia grinned. "Right." The knock on the door made her start and she looked toward it, raising her eyebrows.

"Huh," Chloe raised her eyebrows and smirked a little at Mia, standing up, "he knows how to knock, who knew?"

"I was kind of expecting he'd just rapel onto the balcony," she admitted.

"Me too," Chloe agreed before walking over to the door, doing her best to seem natural and not hurry like she really wanted to, and opening it, relieved to see Oliver on the other side, "hey."

"Hi." He smiled at her, then held out a yellow tulip. He glanced past her to Mia. "Hey."

Chloe raised her eyebrows and smiled, taking the flower, "thank you, you didn't have to do that."

"I know. I wanted to." He stepped inside and drew in a breath.

She reached and closed then locked the door behind Ollie, smiling softly at the flower, then taking a deep breath, "how is Mr. Weatherford?"

"He's fine. Settled in with his radio for the night." He smiled a bit. "He listens to it a lot."

Chloe smiled a little and nodded, "I would love to meet him sometime."

"I have a feeling he'll want to meet you, too," Oliver admitted, glancing at her and then Mia. "Matthew asleep?"

"Yeah," Chloe smiled a little at Mia, "he kept asking about you."

"Maybe we could all go to the park or something tomorrow," Mia suggested.

Oliver glanced at Chloe. "Sure, we could do that," he said softly.

"I think that's a good idea," she agreed, touching the petals of the tulip gently.

"That's her favorite kind of flower," Mia told him, nodding toward the tulip she was holding.

He raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

Chloe smiled, looking from Mia to Ollie, "really, I should put it in water."

"Good idea," she agreed with a nod.

Nodding, she walked over to the small bathroom/would be kitchen area and picked up a glass, filling it with water.

Oliver watched her for a long moment, then slowly moved over to sit down on the sofa.

"I should...get out on patrol." Mia bit her lip.

Chloe walked back to the main area and raised an eyebrow at Mia, "you don't have to go if you want to stay here and talk."

She cast a hopeful glance at Chloe, and then at Oliver. "I should let you two talk."

Raising her eyebrows, Chloe nodded a little, not entirely sure what the look on Mia's face was.

Oliver looked back at her and smiled faintly. "Be careful. If you need any help out there--"

Mia's eyes brightened. "I'll call."

Chloe shook her head and raised an eyebrow, "I'll be in your ear," she warned Mia, walking over to the table in the corner of the room and picking up her earpiece.

Oliver watched the younger girl head into one of the bedrooms, then turned to look at Chloe. "Am I missing something?"

She raised her eyebrows a little, sliding the earpiece on then walking over to Ollie, "what do you mean?"

"Well, she just kinda...seemed really happy all of a sudden," he said uncertainly.

"Of course she is," Chloe smiled, stepping closer, "we got you back."

Oliver considered that for a moment. "She's that happy even though I don't remember her?" His voice was very soft.

"Ollie," Chloe shook her head, "you were the first person to trust her and want to help her in her life, Mia had a really difficult childhood and you were the first person to hold out a hand to her and pick her up, everything she has today and has become, it's thanks to you, you have no idea how much you mean to her and I hope you remember some day, because you changed her life."

He stared at her for a moment, taking all _that_ information in. "Oh," he whispered.

"Another one of those big pieces, huh?" Chloe smiled a little, stepping closer.

"I guess so," he said with a slight nod.

"Do you want something to drink?" She asked quietly, watching him.

"Just some water." Oliver rose to his feet. "But I can get it."

"I can get it for you," she told him, moving over to the fridge.

He gazed at her for a moment, then reached out and took the bottle from her hand a moment later. "Chloe?"

"Yeah?" She raised her eyebrows a little, looking up at him.

"I'm sorry I missed so much." His voice was quiet.

"Ollie..." she shook her head and stepped closer, placing her hands on his face, "don't be sorry, you didn't miss things because you wanted to, you were _gone_ and I know you would be with us if you could have."

Oliver closed his eyes, resting his forehead against hers.

She rubbed her thumb over his cheek and lifted her head a little, brushing her nose against his, "don't be sorry about anything, no one blames you."

"Tell me about Clark," he whispered, leaning into her touch.

Chloe sighed softly and pulled her face away from his, "we should sit, this is a long story."

He reached up and took her hand in his. "We have time." He led her over to the sofa.

She sat down and waited for him to do the same, then nodded a little, "Clark and I used to be best friends, we met when we were eleven."

Oliver gazed at her. "A long time," he said quietly.

"Yes," she agreed, "we always had disagreements here and there, when I was nineteen, a man named Zod, somehow showed up on Earth, he came from the same planet Clark was from even though Krypton had been destroyed years ago."

"Krypton," he echoed, eyebrows furrowing. "All right."

Chloe looked at him for a moment, "let me know if I'm moving too fast," she told him quietly then took a deep breath, "Zod, who was a dictator in Krypton and responsible for the destruction of the planet, tried to take over the Earth. He had an A.I., called Brainiac, Zod took over Lex's body and with Braniac's help, he managed to completely take over every machine in the planet, we had no electricity, no way to communicate, nothing, we call that day Dark Thursday. Luckily, Clark came around eventually and managed to stop him, but it was a very close call."

"So basically a psychopathic megalomaniac alien tried to take over the planet."

"Sounds like a good way to summarize it," she told him, "fast forward four years, Tess unknowingly activates a device that brought a clone of Zod to Earth, but this time, the device brings thousands of other Kryptonians that show up all over the world simultaneously, these kryptonians are all members of Zod's army, and completely loyal to him."

Oliver's stomach tightened a little. "That sounds really bad."

"It would have been if it hadn't been for you," Chloe said sincerely, reaching to take his hand again, "the thing was, though, Zod and his followers they didn't have any of Clark's powers, they were trying to get them, but they were as human as the rest of us at the time they arrived, you and I wanted to take Zod down while we could, before he got all of Clark's powers and became nearly invincible, but Clark was against it, his plan was to try and talk to Zod, make peace with him, so we could all live together in harmony." Chloe's voice took a bitter turn in her last words, her jaw tightening.

He had a feeling he knew where this was going. "But they got their powers somehow, didn't they?" His voice was quiet.

"Yes," she sighed, "and of course they had no interest in holding hands and singing kumbaya," Chloe rubbed her hands over her face, "you and I had made kryptonite weapons, kryptonite is the only thing that can weaken a kryptonian, it's a meteor rock," she added, "Clark didn't know. He wasn't happy when he found out and it took Zod burning down buildings and killing a lot of people for him to decide something had to be done about it."

"He was mad we had a backup plan?" His eyebrows furrowed. "That's just smart." The confusion in his voice was clear.

"The rocks affect him, he felt betrayed," Chloe told him, jaw tightening more, "it came down to a big confrontation between Clark and Zod," she whispered quietly, "they were struggling, Clark was trying to rid Zod of his powers instead of killing him, you saw and you took the shot, you had a kryptonite arrow and you took Zod down, but not before he set the entire building the three of you were in on fire," she looked down, her eyes growing distant, "kryptonians are immune to fire, Clark didn't have a scratch on him."

Oliver fell silent for a moment. "Oh," he whispered, hesitantly reaching out and taking her hand in his.

"We had had a rough year, we hadn't really been talking and it was both our faults, but you and I had been warning him over and over again that Zod had to be stopped and if he had listened to us..." she paused, taking a deep breath, "the day everything happened, the morning of that day I realized I was late and I had been getting sick, I was on my way to tell you about Matthew when Clark dragged you out to go fight Zod, to go help him take care of _his_ problem."

He threaded his fingers through hers and wound his other arm around her. "And you haven't forgiven him," he said quietly, nodding a little.

"It just..." she whispered, her eyes tearing up as she stared at their hands, "it felt like he had taken you from us, he should have helped you, saved you, but when he walked through the door instead of you..." Chloe paused for a moment, "and so many other things had happened because of him, even if it wasn't directly his fault, I didn't want Matthew to grow up around him and be in danger."

His eyes were sad. He wished that this all made more sense to him than it did, wished that he could remember and fully understand. He pulled her close to him.

"I couldn't lose anyone else," she whispered, turning her face against his chest and wrapping an arm around him.

He hugged her tightly, rubbing her back gently. "I know."

Chloe took a deep breath, "but," she pulled back a little, looking up at him, "I do believe he wants to help and he wasn't lying about what the fortress can do."

Oliver was silent for a moment, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "So essentially some kind of alien A.I. would be poking around in my brain."

"Pretty much," she nodded, lifting a hand to touch his cheek.

"I don't know, Chloe." He looked down for a moment.

"It's your decision," she assured him, brushing her fingers over his face gently, it was still hard to believe he was there and now that she knew it was really him, that he was _her_ Ollie, she wanted to touch him even more, to be with him even more, she didn't feel like she had to hold back as much because if he remembered her, he would want this.

He watched her as she gazed at him, touched him with such tender affection that it made his chest tighten. "I'll think about it," he promised, resting a hand on her hip.

Chloe nodded slightly and took a deep breath, watching him closely, "is there anything else you want to know?"

Oliver held her gaze. "Just one," he murmured, his gaze dropping to her mouth before meeting her eyes once more. He shifted closer to her, lifted his hand to her cheek.

She stilled for a second, holding her breath and sliding her fingers into his hair slowly, her heart beating faster.

He leaned in closer, his nose brushing lightly against hers before he placed a soft kiss against the corner of her mouth, closing his eyes.

Chloe closed her eyes too, not moving for a long moment, just feeling his breath against her cheek, his mouth against hers, then she leaned in a little more and turned her head, pressing her lips to his gently.

He brushed his thumb lightly over her cheek as he pressed his lips against hers in return. There was a spark of something--deja vu?--of familiarity and rightness in that kiss and he felt his stomach clench.

Her heart was beating faster but she felt him still a little and although she didn't want to, she pulled back and took a deep breath, "what's wrong?" She whispered quietly, looking up at him.

Oliver shook his head a little. "A little deja vu I think," he whispered back. "I'm not sure. Nothing bad." He kissed her forehead, then let his hand fall from her face to her hand.

"Oh," she smiled softly and brushed her nose against his, "did you remember something else?"

"No," he admitted, leaning his forehead against hers for a moment. "But it felt familiar if that makes sense."

"It does," she whispered then leaned in, brushing her lips against his again, "I'm glad."

His eyes drifted shut once more and this time he kissed her a little more intently, his lips more firm against hers as he shifted closer, closing the space between them.

Chloe made a quiet noise and closed her eyes again, sitting up so she could move closer and reaching a hand to cup the back of his head, kissing him back.

A soft groan escaped him at the sound she made and without warning, he pulled her onto his lap, slowly deepening the kiss.

She didn't protest, just shifted to get more comfortable as she kissed him, holding him as close to her as possible, it was like her body instantly remembered him and knew exactly what to do, even though she hadn't even _kissed_ anyone since him.

His fingers threaded through her hair as they kissed and after several long moments, he drew in a shuddering breath, resting his head against hers when the kiss ended.

Chloe smiled softly and took a deep breath, everything about him felt so familiar, like they hadn't been apart for more than a couple of hours. She often wondered how it would have been like if he had come home after the fight with Zod, telling her it was over, that they had won and what she imagined was pretty close to this.

"Is this what it was like for us?" he asked quietly, one hand resting at the small of her back.

"When I let you have your way," she admitted quietly, "I wasn't very good with letting you close..."

His eyebrows furrowed at that. "Wait, _I_ wasn't the hang up?"

She smiled and shook her head, running her fingers over his hair, "pretty much the opposite of that, actually. You understood why I was afraid of letting you in, but that didn't stop you from trying."

Oliver gazed at her for a long moment. "Was it because I'd dated your cousin?" he asked uncertainly.

Chloe took a deep breath and shook her head, looking down for a second, "I was married and, well, it was pretty much doomed before we even walked down the isle, he didn't know about... anything, about the team, about Clark, about what my job really was." she looked at Ollie again, "our marriage was already over, but he got involved in one of the... alien things, and he died, exactly a year before you did."

His expression was stricken. "Oh," he whispered, seeing the losses she had suffered in the depth of her green eyes. "I'm sorry." He touched her cheek.

"Thank you," she told him quietly, leaning into his touch, "I think that's why things always felt so easy between us, there were no secrets, we knew exactly who we were and we accepted all of it."

He gazed at her, nodding a little. "Makes sense. Always easier when there aren't secrets."

"And even though I was fighting it," she said quietly, moving her fingers over to his cheek, "I knew I was falling for you."

"Was it my charm or my irresistible good looks?" There was a hint of teasing in his voice.

She couldn't help but grin softly at that, leaning in and kissing him softly, "they both count, but the archery thing just did it for me."

He raised his eyebrows. "Oh?" He kissed her back lightly.

Chloe grinned softly, "we started out as friends with benefits," she explained, "no strings attached and all of that, and before you assume anything, that was _my_ idea," she told him pointedly, raising one eyebrow.

Oliver gave her a dubious look. "Really? Because it definitely sounds like something--"

"That's why we _started_ out that way," she grinned a little, "it didn't stay that way long."

There was a hint of amusement in his eyes. "How long is not long?"

"About a month?" She said, raising her eyebrows a little, "maybe five weeks?"

A short, amused chuckle escaped him. "A whole month, huh?"

Chloe couldn't help but grin at his amusement, "well, took you even less time than that to get me pregnant."

He ducked his head, a grin on his face. "At least that turned out well." He glanced toward the bedroom where Matthew was sleeping.

"Yeah," she smiled softly, watching him, "he kept us all sane... well, as sane as we can be."

"You seem pretty sane to me," he said quietly, looking back at her once more.

"You would think that," she teased quietly, "you're as bad as the rest of us."

Oliver grinned. "Then hopefully that means I'll fit in."

"You already do," she told him, smiling softly and leaning in, kissing him gently.

He wasn't sure about that. But for now he was willing to take her word.


	14. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: chloeas and dl_greenarrow  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[One](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html) | [Two](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/672384.html) | [Three](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/678875.html) | [Four](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/684594.html) | [Five](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/689971.html) | [Six](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/692290.html) | [Seven](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/694140.html) | [Eight](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/697544.html) | [Nine](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/702109.html) | [Ten](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/708445.html) | [Eleven](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/711816.html) | [Twelve](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/717148.html) | [Thirteen](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/721563.html) |

**July 8th, 2016**

Oliver watched as Chloe and Matthew headed out of the hotel room. Apparently she'd promised him ice cream, and she'd suggested he spend a little time getting to know Mia to see if anything would jog his memory. He drew in a breath and glanced over to the brunette who was sitting on the sofa, looking a little uncertain. "So." He offered her a small smile.

"Yeah?" She said with an awkward smile, suddenly feeling like she was sixteen again and he was offering her to buy her a bunch of new clothes.

He gazed at her a moment, then hesitantly moved over to sit down on the sofa, as well. "So how long have you been patrolling?"

"About six years?" She told him, "you didn't really let me patrol."

"How old are you?" he asked curiously, resting his arms on his legs.

"Twenty-two," she told him, shifting on the couch.

"So you were...sixteen when we met?" Oliver gazed at her.

"Yeah," she smirked and shrugged, looking at him, "you decided to pick up a stray."

He arched an eyebrow at that. "Meaning what?"

"Chloe didn't tell you?" She asked with a frown.

 

"Just...the bare bones," he admitted. "I think she was hoping maybe something you said would help job my memory."

"Oh," Mia stood up and and rubbed her hands over her sides, "well, you ran into me in this cage fighting place, and you thought I had a good right hook."

"You were cage fighting at sixteen?" There was a hint of sadness in his eyes. "So...then what?"

"Then I ran, but you found me again." She told him, "and quit looking like that, that was ages ago. It doesn't matter anymore."

"Maybe not to you but I don't have the advantage of remembering," he pointed out. "I'm just learning everything all over again."

"Yeah but you kicked yourself even back then, like you could have prevented my life from going in that whatever direction," she said with a shrug, "and you're not supposed to do that, you gave me everything you could have, trust me." She smirked, "except for the part where you died on me and left me to take care of Chloe and your kid."

He winced a little at that, letting out a breath. "Right."

"Hey, I totally get to make 'you died on us' jokes and you don't get to pout," she said with a frown.

"Says who?" He smirked.

"I do," Mia grinned, glad that she hadn't really hurt his feelings, she didn't want him to feel guilty, she and Chloe felt pretty good by the fact he was back, she didn't want him to feel anything different, "and I bet Chloe would agree with me."

"Suddenly very glad I have a son. At least that evens things out a little," he teased.

"Please," she rolled her eyes and plopped back down on the couch, bending her leg over it, "he's totally a momma's boy."

"We'll see." He grinned.

"You can't bribe him with guy stuff," she warned, raising an eyebrow.

"I make no promises, Speedy." He leaned back against the sofa, amusement in his eyes.

Mia raised her eyebrows a little, a little hopeful, "how did you know my codename, did Chloe tell you?"

Oliver paused. "Yeah, she did," he said softly. "But if it helps...it _feels_ right."

"Oh," she shrugged a little and nodded then pursed her lips together, "guess that's a good start. Did you remember anything else since you remembered how you and Chloe met?"

"Not so much," Oliver admitted, sighing softly.

"Are you gonna let Clark help?" She asked curiously.

He looked down. "I'm not sure. What are your thoughts on it?"

"Well, I'm with Chloe on everything," Mia told him, pursing her lips together a little, Chloe had taken her in after Ollie died and had trusted her to help her raise Ollie's kid, so Mia definitely had her back, "but I don't know, it's not like Clark is a bad guy and he does feel really bad about everything, you know? It's like he can't look at Chloe and Matthew without looking like he's about to burst into tears."

 

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "She blames him for everything," he said quietly, glancing up at her.

"Pretty much," Mia told him, "and it's kinda his fault, but not really his fault the guy tried to take over Earth in the first place."

"I can't really judge at this point, considering I don't remember any of it." He was silent for a moment.

"Yeah, still your decision, though, I mean, if you wanna let the alien voices stuff mess with your memory or not, but for the record, you and Clark got along better than he and Chloe did in the last few months, from what you told me at the time anyway."

Oliver gazed at her for a long moment. "I appreciate that," he said quietly, considering.

"Hey, I'm your sidekick, I'm supposed to be helping you," Mia grinned at him.

He smiled back at her. "Maybe we could patrol together sometime soon."

Mia's eyes widened and she face brightened, "yeah! We never really got to do that, except for practicing."

"So you've been doing this for six years on your own? Do you ever work with the team?"

"Just Chloe," she told him, shrugging a little and looking away.

He was silent for a few seconds. "Because you didn't want to get attached to anyone else who could end up the way I did."

Mia frowned a little then nodded, shrugging.

 

"I see," he said softly.

"But if you wanna go back to working with the team, I guess I could join you," she told him raising her eyebrows.

"I don't know yet," he admitted softly. "I think I may need a little time to ease into things."

Mia nodded and shrugged a shoulder, "you can patrol with me until then."

 

"All right." Oliver nodded.

"Anything else you wanna ask?" She offered, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know." He smiled a bit, shrugging. "There's so much I don't know that I don't know where to start. You know?"

"Yeah..." she agreed, "guess it's better if you just let the questions come to you."

"Unless there's anything you think I should know."

"Can't think of anything," she raised her eyebrows, "Chloe is better at the talking thing than I am."

He grinned a little. "I'll keep that in mind."

Mia reached over and punched his arm, "let me know when you're ready for patrol and I'll show you how it's done."

 

Oliver smirked at that. "You're on. Tonight if you're up for it."

"Awesome," she told him with a grin.

 

* * *

Chloe smiled down at Matthew as they walked back to the hotel, holding on to his hand firmly, "you know, we really need to do something about you getting half your ice cream on your shirt like that," she teased him quietly.

"But it melts!" He pointed out with a grin.

"Uh huh, then maybe we need to get you an ice cream that doesn't melt, how does that sound."

"Mommy, you're silly," Matthew said with a shake of his head and a smile.

"Sometimes," she agreed, smiling down at him and brushing his hair from his face.

"It's funny when you are," he told his mom.

Chloe grinned softly and nodded, "well I'm glad I amuse you, Mister." She teased him just as they stepped inside the lobby, frowning a little when she saw a familiar red-head standing by the check-in area, "Tess?"

Tess turned at the sound of Chloe's voice, her normally composed nature replaced by one of uncertainty. "Is it true?"

"It is," Chloe told her, nodding a little.

"Hi, Tess!" Matthew said with a smile.

She drew in a breath, looking paler than usual, even though she managed to smile down at Matthew. "Hi, Matthew." She looked at Chloe once more. "I need to see for myself."

"We need to talk first," Chloe told her, taking a deep breath, "he doesn't remember everything."

Tess cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean? What doesn't he remember?"

"He's starting to remember slowly," Chloe told her, "but when I first saw him again, the last thing he remembered was the break-up between the two of you."

 

The shock was obvious on Tess' face for a moment before it was replaced with her usual calm, level-headed and neutral expression. "I see."

Chloe caught the shock and nodded, glancing at Matthew as he started looking around impatiently then back at Tess, "and he still feels incredibly guilty about how that happened, so, I will have to let him know you are here before you see him."

 

"Of course." Her voice was quiet. "Should I wait down here?"

"I don't know if he's still upstairs, but let me go check and I'll text you to let you know when you can come up," Chloe told her quietly.

 

"All right." She folded her arms across her chest and looked down at Matthew for a moment, her eyes softening for an instant before she headed across the lobby to sit down.

"C'mon, Matthew, lets get you clean," she told him, tugging on his hand gently.

"Bye, Tess!" He said with a smile and waved at her as she walked away.

"Bye, Matthew." Her voice was quiet.

* * *

Chloe took a deep breath before opening the door, people had to quit showing up until they figured everything out, but she had been expecting Tess to come to Star City since that article had come out, and Chloe figured the other woman would find it suspicious that she was still in town after all this time. But she knew that this particular reunion was not going to be easy on Oliver, she was the one person he did remember.

She was relieved to find both Mia and Oliver were still there, Matthew let go of her hand and ran right to the couch, "we're back."

Oliver was more than a little surprised when Matthew ran right to _him_. He chuckled softly at the ice cream stains all over his shirt. "I take it the ice cream was good," he teased.

Mia caught sight of the hesitancy on Chloe's face and raised an eyebrow.

Matthew grinned and started climbing on the couch and to Oliver, "yes! I wanted more but mommy said we had to wait until _after_ dinner."

Chloe held Mia's gaze and mouthed 'Tess' as she walked over to the couch too.

Mia's eyes widened a little and she glanced at Oliver and then back at Chloe uncertainly.

"Well, Mommy's a very smart lady, so we should definitely listen to her." He reached down without thinking and helped Matthew up on the sofa beside him.

He grinned and nodded up at Oliver, "can you come too?"

Oliver paused. "Maybe," he said softly. "You guys might have to bring some back to me instead though."

"Okay," Matthew said sadly, a pout forming on his lips.

Chloe pursed her lips together at Mia then looked back at Oliver, "Ollie? Can we talk?"

Oliver ruffled Matthew's hair and smiled at him gently before looking up at Chloe. "Sure." He slowly rose to his feet.

Chloe stepped into one of the bedrooms and waited for Oliver to do the same before closing the door behind them, after glancing at Mia for a second.

 

Mia just nodded slightly, taking Matthew by the hand. "All right, Squirt. Let's get you cleaned up. You're a mess."

Oliver followed Chloe into the bedroom and raised his eyebrows when she shut the door. "What is it?"

She raised her eyebrows a little, "Tess is downstairs."

 

He grew still, staring at her. "What? Why?"

"She must have seen the articles, she wanted to know if it was true," Chloe took a step closer, "she wants to see you."

 

He turned away from her for a moment, raking a hand through his hair.

"I told her the last thing you remember is the two of you breaking up," She said quietly.

Oliver winced a little, and glanced back at her. "And for her it's been--what? Twelve years?"

"Yeah," Chloe told him, raising her eyebrows a little and watching him carefully.

 

"This is weird," he murmured. "I guess...should I go down there?"

"I told her I'd let her know when she could come up," she told him, pursing her lips together, "she doesn't resent you, Ollie, I know that much."

He met her eyes, then nodded a little, relaxing just a bit. "All right."

Chloe pulled her phone from her pocket and sent Tess a quick text with the room number, "you'll be fine," she assured him, watching him again, "she just wants to know you're alive."

 

"Okay." His voice grew quiet.

She reached over and squeezed his arm, "she'll be here soon."

Oliver nodded a little, gazing at her. "How weird is this for you?"

"Weird," she admitted, raising her eyebrows a little, letting Ollie go talk to his ex, who, in his mind, he had hurt and had a lot to make up for, she knew it probably wasn't going to be a big deal, but a part of her wondered if he wouldn't want Tess back instead of her.

He reached out and touched her face, then leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips.

Chloe smiled softly against his lips and kissed her back, even though he didn't _really_ know her, it looked like he could read her just as well as he used to.

 

He pulled away after a moment, growing still at the sharp knock on the hotel room door. He drew in a breath and let it out slowly.

"It'll be okay," she assured him, touching his face, "I'll go help Mia with Matthew and you let me know if you need anything, okay?"

 

"All right. Thanks, Chloe." His voice was soft and he watched her go, trying to shake away his nervous feelings.

Chloe gave him a quick smile before disappearing from the other room as she heard another knock on the door, Tess had never been known for her patience.

Oliver moved over and leaned against the air conditioner by the window. He drew in a breath and let it out slowly as he heard footsteps approaching.

Tess walked into the room once Chloe let her in and watched as the other woman left, if she was nervous, it wasn't showing but she was glad his back was to her when her eyes finally fell on him because her breath caught and her heart skipped a beat. She composed herself a second later and took another step forward, "Oliver."

 

He turned around slowly so he was facing her, a faint, somewhat hesitant smile on his lips. "Mercy," he said uncertainly.

"So it is true," she said, her wide eyes the only real sign of everything she was feeling, "Green Arrow _is_ back."

Oliver stared at her with now equally wide eyes. "You _know_?"

"Yes." Tess said simply, watching him closely.

 

He opened his mouth to respond to that, then shut it once more. He reached up to rub the back of his neck. "I don't remember much," he said finally.

"Chloe told me," she crossed her arms over her chest, shielding herself for the answer to the question she was about to ask, "what do you remember?"

Oilver was silent for a moment. "Us," he admitted quietly. "Breaking up. And I have a flash of meeting Chloe for the first time. I remember the island and everything before that." He exhaled.

"And what are you doing about getting your memory back?"

 

He arched an eyebrow. "Well, considering I just ran into Chloe three nights ago--literally--mostly trying to get caught up and hoping something will jog it."

Tess raised an eyebrow at that, "you didn't have someone look at you and figure out why you can't remember?"

"Tests are being scheduled," he said, suddenly looking a little uncomfortable because he knew she was wondering why he hadn't done it himself, before now.

"Good," she figured that was why Chloe had asked her for the lab.

He nodded a little. "So uh, how've you been?"

"Busy," she told him, "I kept your company running."

Oliver's eyebrows furrowed a little at that. "Oh. Thanks." He looked at her uncertainly, wondering when she'd gotten the experience to run a company the size of Queen Industries.

"Chloe's decision, not mine." Tess said simply, she had no problem giving the other woman credit.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "And you're all right?"

"A lot has changed, Oliver," she told him, then sighed a little, finally giving in and answering his question, "I'm fine."

He nodded slightly, keeping her gaze. "Good," he said quietly.

"Stop staring at me like that," she said finally, "you're the one who came back from the dead."

A small smile touched his lips. "Yeah, well. I don't remember _that_." He shrugged.

Her expression remained unchanged, although her eyes weren't as wide anymore, "another question we have to answer."

"I woke up alone in a hotel room," he admitted. "A few weeks ago." He folded his arms across his chest, looking down at the floor for a moment.

"With no memory of the past twelve years." She pointed out, "that's more than enough to raise an eyebrow."

He nodded slightly. "Yeah. But how exactly do I go about that?" he asked quietly.

"Getting your memory back is good start," Tess stated.

"Think I will?" He gazed at her.

"My guess is as good as yours." She told him, holding his gaze.

 

"Right." Oliver looked down for a moment.

"Anything you need help with?" Since she was the only person he knew.

He drew in a breath. "Only if you have time to fill in some of the pieces to the puzzle."

Tess raised an eyebrow at that, she didn't expect him to actually accept her offer. "Ask away."

"Well for one...how did you end up running Queen Industries?" he asked curiously.

"I was running LuthorCorp after Lex 'died'," she told him with a cock of her head, "you bought Luthorcorp, but left me in charge, it was the natural step."

He paused at that. "So we wound up being okay? I mean, we were friends even after..." His voice trailed off.

"I wouldn't call us friends," she told him, "business associates is a better term."

"Oh." Oliver was silent for a moment.

"We had revivals," she told him, raising a single brow pointedly, "but lets face it, Oliver, it would never work out."

He looked down. "No, I know." He glanced up at her. "It would be nice if we could be friends though."

Tess smirked a little at that, "you may not remember, but you haven't changed."

"And that of course is a bad thing." He sighed.

"Hardly," she smirked a little more.

 

"And it appears you got even more confusing over the years." He smirked back at her.

"Surprise."

"Except not so surprising."

"If you don't remember the last twelve years and you can still call my next move, I should definitely be worried," Tess told him with a smirk, dropping her hands to her sides.

He smiled a little at that. "So no 'welcome back to the living, Oliver'?"

"I said that last time, I don't like repeating myself, consider the lab yesterday your welcome back gift."

"Last time?" His eyebrows furrowed. "I came back from the dead before?"

"When we got back from the island," she told him, her face softening for a fraction of a second before going back to neutral.

"Oh," he said quietly, meeting her eyes for a moment.

Tess held his gaze this time, her eyes narrowing slightly as she tried to read him.

Oliver was quiet for a few seconds. "So besides running the company, what's new?" A smile quirked his lips.

"Nothing," she said simply, sincerely, that was all she had been doing, well that and trying to track down Lex Luthor, but he didn't need to worry about that yet.

"Nothing at all?" His eyebrows furrowed a little.

"Trust me, Oliver, you should be relieved."

 

"I'll take your word on that," he responded with a shrug.

She crossed her arms over her chest again, "I trust Chloe has the labs and exams situation under control?"

"She does," he said, nodding.

"Good," Tess told him, business mode back on, made this whole situation easier, "I'll be in town for a couple more days if you need assistance with anything else."

 

"Appreciate that," Oliver told her, his voice quiet but sincere.

"Anything I can do for now?"

 

"I don't think so. Unless you can restore my memory with some magical power you've gained over the last twelve years that I have no knowledge of."

Tess just smirked a little, "Chloe has my information if you have anymore questions."

He smiled. "All right. It's uh--good to see you, Mercy."

"Oliver." She nodded at him before turning around and starting to the door.

Oliver watched her go, relaxing a little when she disappeared from view, then he moved over to sit down on the bed, closing his eyes for a moment.

Chloe had been listening carefully to what was happening outside, in case Oliver needed some help, so when she heard the main door, she told Mia she was going to check on Ollie and stepped out of the room, relieved to see Tess wasn't there anymore, but frowning when she saw him in the bedroom, "Ollie?" She called gently.

He glanced up toward the door. "Come on in. It's your room," he teased.

She smiled a little and walked over to the bed, sitting down next to him, "you are welcome to it anytime you need," she made a face and paused, smiling a little, "that didn't sound right."

 

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Does it make the offer any less valid?" He nudged her lightly with his elbow.

Chloe paused and raised an eyebrow back at him, "definitely not."

 

"I'll keep that in mind," he murmured.

She smiled at him for a second then shifted, placing her hand on his back, "how did it go?"

 

"Better than I expected," he admitted, glancing at her sideways.

Chloe watched him and nodded a little, "I thought that would be the case."

He paused, thinking for a moment. "Do I look any different?"

She paused and squinted a little, "scars aside? I don't think so."

"So I don't look like I've aged?" He cocked his head and gazed at her.

Raising her eyebrows, she watched him closely and shook her head, "not since the last time I saw you." She told him sincerely.

Oliver grinned. "Awesome."

At that, she paused and blinked for a second, then laughed, shaking her head.

His grin brightened a little at the sound of her laughter. "Hey it's not every day you hear you haven't aged a day in twelve years."

"Hey," she raised her eyebrows, "I didn't say in twelve years, I meant in six, cut that in half, buddy."

He gave her a mock-offended look. "Twelve years, six." He shrugged. "Same difference."

It was her turn to nudge him with her elbow, "if you hadn't changed in twelve years, I'd feel ancient next to you."

"You don't look a day over twenty-one." He grinned at her.

"Please, I'm a mom, that puts me a lot closer to thirty by wisdom alone." She told him.

"Ah, I didn't say wisdom wise. Just in appearances."

"Nice save, Mr. Queen." She teased playfully, nudging him again.

 

"I said 'look a day over twenty-one,' the first time around." He smirked at her, winding an arm around her.

Chloe shifted closer and wrapped an arm round him too, "well, how old do you think I _really_ am?"

"Well, I'm hoping older than twenty-one because otherwise I'm a criminal." He paused. "Of course I am anyway, but..."

She leaned in and kissed his cheek, "I guess I'm older than you now..."

"Not technically." He leaned against her, yawning involuntarily.

Chloe couldn't help but smile softly, "tired?" She asked quietly.

A faint smile touched his lips. "Yeah, a little," he admitted. "It's been a long day." And it wasn't even night time yet.

"Maybe you should nap." She suggested quietly, lifting a hand to his hair.

He leaned into her touch, his eyes drifting shut. "What about you? Are you tired?"

"I could lay down for a while..." she said quietly, watching him.

Oliver was quiet for a moment, then he leaned down, untying his shoes and slipping them off. He hesitated a second, then did the same with hers, as well.

Chloe raised her eyebrows a little and watched him, a soft smile on her face as she ran her fingers through his hair.

 

He lifted his head slowly to look at her, then raised a hand to her cheek, leaning in and kissing her very softly.

She held her breath and returned the kiss just as softly, letting her hand drop to his cheek and brushing her thumb against his skin, the three words she had been telling him every night before going to sleep for the past six years playing on her head, but she didn't want to scare him away.

After a moment he leaned his forehead against hers for a few seconds, then scooted back on the bed so he could lie down.

Chloe smiled a little at him then stood up, closing the door halfway then closing the blinds before walking back to the bed and looking down at him for a long moment then taking a deep breath.

He gazed up at her, a hint of uncertainty in his eyes as he wondered if she was changing her mind. He held a hand out toward her silently.

She took his hand without hesitation and smiled down at him, laying down beside him on her side so she could face him.

Oliver gave her hand a gentle squeeze, then laid his head down on her pillow, letting his eyes drift shut.

Chloe smiled and leaned in, pressing a kiss to his forehead then pulling back enough to watch him, trying to process the fact that Ollie was sleeping in her bed with her again. Somehow she didn't think it would take her any time at all to get used to that.  



	15. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: [](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/profile)[**chloeas**](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/) and [](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/profile)[**dl_greenarrow**](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/)  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[Chapter 1](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html) \- [Chapter 2](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/672384.html) \- [Chapter 3](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/678875.html) \- [Chapter 4](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/684594.html) \- [Chapter 5](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/689971.html) \- [Chapter 6](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/692290.html) \- [Chapter 7](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/694140.html) \- [Chapter 8](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/697544.html) \- [Chapter 9](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/702109.html) \- [Chapter 10](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/708445.html) \- [Chapter 11](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/711816.html) \- [Chapter 12](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/717148.html) \- [Chapter 13](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/721563.html) \- [Chapter 14](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/727279.html)

**February 6, 2010**

He stood in the doorway of Watchtower, his gaze resting almost instantly on the small blonde at the computers, typing away far faster than he ever could. He simply watched her for a few moments as she remained oblivious to his presence.

She'd saved his life. Pulled him from his self-created version of _hell_.

Even if she'd done it all from behind the curtains. It was what she did all the time these days. He rarely saw her outside of Watchtower. He wondered sometimes if she even went back to the apartment above the Talon. He suspected she didn't sleep much. Between the coffee and her obsession with work, he was fairly certain she didn't bother to make time for something as _frivolous_ as sleep.

Drawing in a breath, he stepped forward. "Chloe?"

Chloe raised an eyebrow and looked over at the door, giving him a quick smile but going right back to typing, "what's up?"

"Nothing, really," he admitted, moving over to sit down in one of the seats beside her.

There was another small pause on the typing and she glanced at him again before resuming her work.

At her lack of response, he raised an eyebrow. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing," she replied without pausing this time.

"Doesn't look like nothing," he pressed, looking over her shoulder to the computer screen.

"Carter asked me to see if I can track down anymore of the old Justice Society members for him." She explained, "I'm making him a list."

He made a face at that, leaning back a little and looking down at the still-healing cuts on his arms. "Traitor." His voice was light.

Chloe smirked and glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes, "want some cheese with that whine?"

Oliver rolled his eyes. "I think I'll pass this time. But just for that, you should hit save and come with me."

The smirk disappeared from her face instantly, "come where?" she didn't look at him this time.

"To lunch. I'm starving and since you brought up cheese and _wine_ , now I want both. And yes, of course I'm buying." He watched her for a moment, waiting for her reaction.

She stilled, just for a second, "I need to finish this up, we don't know if Icicle is still out there."

"You're right, we don't. But I'm pretty sure that the second he pops up one of the team will hit their panic buttons, so let's grab some food."

"Yeah, because our emergency system worked out so well last time."

Oliver gazed at her for a moment even though she was focused on her computer and typing just as fast as she had been. He reached out and rested a hand between her shoulder blades. "One hour, Chloe."

Chloe tensed, glancing at him and pursing her lips together.

He felt her tense, but left his hand where it was. Not because he wanted to make her uncomfortable, but because everyone, Chloe included--needed the human touch for support on occasion. He offered her a gentle smile. "Come on, Watchtower. There's a place just a couple blocks from here. It's a beautiful day outside, we can walk, grab some food and come back."

She swallowed hard and looked back at the screen, "like you're going to give me a choice in the matter?"

He grinned. "Hey, don't complain. I'm taking you out for lunch, and paying and everything."

"One hour," she told him, raising one eyebrow as she turned to face him, "no longer than that."

Oliver winked at her and rose to his feet, holding his hand out. "One hour," he promised, his eyes twinkling.

Chloe squinted at him for a moment then with a roll of her eyes, took his hand and stood up too, "and I demand coffee on the way back."

He chuckled, draping his arm around her shoulders and guiding her toward the door. "Naturally. I wouldn't subject you to being in my presence for an hour without buying you coffee," he teased.

"Because you're such a bear to be around..." she told him with a raise of eyebrows.

"You'd think so as hard as it is to convince you to hang out with me." He smirked down at her, leading her into the elevator.

She just gave him a look and shook her head a little.

"Seriously. You're starting to give me a complex. Which isn't an easy thing, Sidekick." He pressed the down button and glanced at her.

Chloe leaned back against the opposite elevator wall and shook her head, glancing up at the changing elevator numbers, "maybe I'm just trying to keep your gigantic ego in check."

He paused at the distant, almost blank tone of her voice. "Someone has to do it, I suppose. Who better?"

"Kicked your ass into gear once before."

"Exactly," he said, his voice soft.

A small smirk appeared on her lips and she glanced at him then back toward the door.

Oliver gazed at her a moment. "I'm here, Chloe. And...contrary to popular belief, I'm a pretty good listener." He paused. "At least when my ego's in check."

Chloe blinked and frowned a little, "look, Oliver, if this is another one of those, 'Watchtower needs to step away from the computers' interferences, I'll just save us both some time and go back upstairs now, I'm _fine_ ," she told him firmly.

He shook his head a little. "No. I'm just saying if you ever need a friend...I'm here." His voice was soft. "I know we haven't been the best of friends, but I do hope you think of me as a friend."

She studied him for a long moment then nodded, "of course I do."

"Good." He offered her a genuine smile, watching as the doors slid open and she stepped off. He drew in a breath and followed her off the elevator. She may not have asked for or wanted his help, but he was going to help her anyway. Because he hadn't asked for hers either and she'd saved his life.

* * *

**July 8th, 2016**

Chloe shifted a little in her sleep, "mommy?" She heard her son calling her and tugging on her hand, "what is it, baby?" She asked him sleepily, opening her eyes just slightly, a faint smile appearing on her lips as she felt Oliver pressed up against her back, his arm wrapped tight around her stomach, she had fallen asleep after all during his nap, even though she had only planned on laying there and watching him, making sure he was real.

"Come here," she whispered to Matthew, "lay down with us," she told him, helping him climb on the bed.

"Ollie is _here_?" Matthew said in surprise as he got on the bed and looked over his mom's shoulder.

"He was tired, he needed a nap too," Chloe explained quietly.

Oliver's eyebrows furrowed at the soft sound of talking nearby. His arm tightened around Chloe just a little, an involuntary reflex and he slowly opened his eyes when the mattress dipped a little. He blinked a few times to clear his vision and found little green eyes staring at him. He smiled back sleepily. "Hi."

Chloe shifted slightly so she was half laying on her back, half laying on Ollie as Matthew climbed over her to look at Ollie, a big grin on his face, "hi!"

He couldn't help but grin at the boy. "Did you get any sleep?"

Matthew nodded and raised his eyebrows, "Mia said I should nap too."

Oliver reached up and ruffled his hair lightly. "Mia's a smart girl."

"Are you still going to sleep?" He asked curiously.

"Oh. I don't think so. I'm pretty awake now." He smiled, then glanced down at Chloe.

She smiled softly at Ollie, watching the two of them quietly.

"Then we can play!" Matthew suggested.

He paused, looking back at Matthew again. "What do you want to play, Champ?"

"We can go to the park and play with my bow!" He said.

Chloe smirked a little and glanced at Ollie then looked back at Matthew, "it's late, we can't go to the park anymore today."

"Maybe tomorrow," Oliver suggested, glancing between them.

Matthew pouted a little at his mom then looked at Ollie, "promise?"

"As long as it's okay with your mom, I promise," he said with a nod.

Chloe raised her eyebrows a little and looked at Ollie, "of course it's okay with me." She told him.

Grinning, Matthew sat up, "okay!"

Oliver smiled back at him. "Did you eat dinner yet?" he asked, not sure of how long they'd slept or if Mia had fixed something to eat.

He shook his head, "Mia said she was hungry and that I was supposed to wake you up."

He chuckled a little at that. "All right. Why don't you go see what she wants for dinner. And what do _you_ want for dinner?"

"Fries!" He announced, already climbing out of the bed, "I'll go ask!"

Chloe grinned softly and shook her head a little, watching as Matthew ran out of the room.

He raised an eyebrow. "Fries, huh?" He looked down at her.

"I promise he eats more than fries and ice cream," she told him, shifting on the bed so she was facing him, "did you get some rest?"

Oliver gazed at her for a moment. "Yeah, I did." He paused. "Chloe?"

"Yeah?" She asked quietly, rubbing a hand over his arm gently.

"Who's Hawkman?"

Her eyes widened at the question, "Carter Hall, how do you know that name?"

He gazed at her, a small smile tugging at his lips. "I dreamt about us. I don't...remember him so much as...the name and--did the guy throw me through a window?"

"Oh," she grinned at that memory, nodding, "he did, through one of the Watchtower windows, you were pouting about that for _ages_."

He frowned a little. "I don't _pout._ "

Chloe laughed softly at that and leaned in, kissing him softly, "you pouted exactly like your son pouts," she told him, not really thinking about her words, it felt right to say them.

Oliver's eyes softened at that and he kissed her again, reaching up to touch her cheek. "I dreamt I was trying to get you out of there."

"Out of where?" She asked quietly, cocking her head.

"I think it may have been Watchtower? There were a lot of computers."

She paused for a moment, "that sounds like it, maybe your dream was a memory, what else happened?"

"You didn't exactly want to come along," he told her. "I had to promise you'd be back in an hour."

Chloe squinted a little, trying to remember it too, "were you trying to get me to go to lunch?"

Oliver nodded slightly. "Yeah, I was."

She bit down on her bottom lip and grinned slowly, "that was our first non-date date," she told him.

He raised his eyebrows. "Non-date date?" He smiled.

"Well, I'm very good at the denial thing, so I refused to call them dates," she told him, reaching for his hand and linking her fingers through his, "but that's totally what they were..."

"I was worried about you. In the dream." He searched her eyes, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand.

"Because I wouldn't leave the Watchtower?" She asked quietly.

"You were working too much. I remember thinking I was going to return the favor." He gazed at her. "What favor?"

Pursing her lips together she considered the best way to answer his question for a moment, "When Jimmy, my ex-husband, was killed, it was hard on all of us, I buried myself in work, and you took off, you felt guilty and responsible and you had the weight of killing Lex on your shoulders, so you went on a pretty self-destructive path, you even burned your Green Arrow costume."

He stared at her for a moment. "Oh." He shook his head a little. "That...yeah. That actually does sound like me."

"The team and I came up with a plan," she told him, "send you over the edge to pull you back."

"Meaning?" His eyebrows furrowed a little.

"Meaning, we kinda put you through hell and made you fight your way out of it, we kidnapped you, had you followed, made you think a mack truck was about to run you over just to knock you out and take you away, set out a dog who _you_ thought was rabid on you, made you think your bank account had been emptied..." pursing her lips together, "we wanted to show you you still had it in you to fight back."

He blinked a couple of times, staring at her. "You made me think a semi-truck was going to run me over?"

Chloe couldn't help but laugh at his reaction, "you complained about that _all_ the time too," she grinned and shook her head, leaning in and brushing her nose against his, "Bart ran you out of there before you could get a scratch on you. You were safe the entire time..."

"Well, that's a relief," he said wryly, unable to stop himself from pressing his lips against hers.

She kissed him back softly and took a deep breath, "you didn't want to see how much you mattered, how important you were and how many people you helped. We had to show it to you."

Oliver's chest tightened a little at her words, moving his thumb lightly over her cheek. "You did," he whispered. "I felt that in the dream."

Chloe leaned into his touch and closed her eyes just for a second, "you saved me too."

"What do you mean?" he murmured.

"I was hiding behind work, I was in the Watchtower pretty much 24/7, living off of coffee, and only sleeping when my body couldn't take it anymore, but you warmed your way in and made me want to have a life outside the Watchtower again." She told him quietly.

He held his breath, and her gaze for a long moment, then leaned in slowly and kissed her once more, his forehead resting against hers.

She smiled a little, sighing softly and touching his cheek gently.

"So then it was a memory," he murmured. "Not just a dream."

Chloe nodded slightly, watching him and brushing her fingertips over his cheek, "it sounds like it to me..."

He relaxed a little, closing his eyes. "Good," he whispered.

"I wonder if you'll start remembering more in your dreams, or even if the dreams you've been having were memories too," she said quietly.

He paused, considering that. "Maybe. Although the ones I'd been having up until I ran into you were mostly just of your face."

"Oh," Chloe raised her eyebrows a little, "really?"

Oliver nodded a little, tucking some hair behind her ear. "Your face, and your smile," he murmured, touching her lips. "And your green eyes."

She grinned softly at that, leaning her forehead against his, and pressing a kiss to his finger, "you would remember that particular feature."

He grinned back at her. "Apparently I'm predictable," he teased.

"Only to a few people," she grinned a little, kissing him again and pulling back when she heard Matthew calling out 'mooooommy!'.

"We're coming," she answered him, smiling softly at Ollie.

Oliver smiled back at her and sat up slowly, raking a hand through his hair. "We're gonna end up at McDonalds aren't we?" he joked.

"Every night if he has his way," she told him, sitting up too, "but I'm guessing it's probably a better idea if we order room service?"

"It'd be better for now," He admitted quietly.

"You can stay and have dinner with us?" She asked, lifting a hand to her hair to make sure it looked presentable.

"I'd like that."

Her face softened and she smiled a little then shook her head, "you don't need an invitation, Ollie, you're always welcome around us, you're our family."

Oliver looked up at her, his breath catching in his throat. He swallowed hard, nodding a little. "I suppose I really am," he whispered.

Chloe cupped his cheek in her hand and kissed him gently then moved to stand up, holding her hand out to him.

He slid his hand into hers and rose to his feet, as well, a warm feeling in his chest.

She led him back to the main room and Matthew ran right up to them, "I'm hungry," he said with a pout.

"Me too," Mia said, raising an eyebrow at both Ollie and Chloe.

Oliver reached down and picked Matthew up. "Well, what sounds good besides fries?" He glanced at Mia, then at Chloe.

"McDonalds!" Matthew said excitedly.

Chloe raised an eyebrow at Matthew, "we went there yesterday."

"Ollie didn't," he pointed out.

Oliver couldn't help but grin at his reasoning as he glanced at Chloe. "How about if we order room service? You can even make the call."

Matthew considered for a moment then wrapped his arms around Ollie's neck, "okay!"

His eyes softened at the embrace and then he hugged the boy closer to him, leaning his head against his son's.

Mia swallowed hard, glancing at Chloe as she held her breath, surprised how the sight was effecting _her_. She could only imagine how Chloe must have been feeling.

Chloe's face softened too and she took a deep breath, not really thinking about it before leaning in and pressing a kiss to each of their temples, her eyes getting teary as she did.

Oliver opened his eyes to look at her, their gazes meeting. He reached out with one arm, pulling her closer, then glancing at Mia.

Chloe raised an eyebrow and wrapped her arms tightly around both of them, smiling at Ollie then smiling softly at Matthew.

"Mia needs hugs too," Matthew said, looking over his shoulder at her.

"I agree." He held his arm out toward her and smiled a little.

Mia hesitated a moment, then moved forward quickly, hugging all three of them in a tight embrace.

Chloe smiled softly at Mia and nodded at her then closed her eyes, letting out a deep breath and resting her cheek against Ollie's shoulder.

Oliver looked from his son to Mia, and then at Chloe.

His family.

Together.


	16. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: chloeas and dl_greenarrow  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[One](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html) | [Two](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/672384.html) | [Three](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/678875.html) | [Four](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/684594.html) | [Five](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/689971.html) | [Six](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/692290.html) | [Seven](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/694140.html) | [Eight](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/697544.html) | [Nine](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/702109.html) | [Ten](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/708445.html) | [Eleven](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/711816.html) | [Twelve](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/717148.html) | [Thirteen](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/721563.html) | [Fourteen](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/727279.html) | [Fifteen](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/731118.html) |

**July 8, 2016**

Oliver set the box of chicken down on the table and stepped into the living room to check on Mr. Weatherford. "Hey, Old Man. I brought you dinner," he said with a smile.

"Boy?" he asked, blinking his eyes and sitting up straight, he had been taking a nap.

 

"Yeah, it's me. I brought you some fried chicken and biscuits. Hope you're hungry."

"I could eat," he said, "didn't think you'd be coming back."

"Of course I came back. I'm not gonna just take off, Old Man." He frowned a little.

Neil waved his hand, "good thing if you did, find something better to do with your life."

Oliver rolled his eyes at that. "Because saving the city isn't doing enough?" His voice was light, teasing.

"That all you've been doing all this time you're gone now?" He asked.

He paused for a moment, helping the old man to his feet and guiding him into the kitchen. "I found her."

The old man grabbed his stick and stood, supporting himself on it instead of Oliver, "found who?"

"The woman I told you about. The one I was dreaming about." He paused. "Her name's Chloe."

"Did you now?" He asked, a knowing smirk appearing on his lips.

 

He shook his head a little, amused. "I knew her before..." He paused before he could say _I died_. Because he didn't know exactly how he'd explain that one. "I think some of my memories are starting to come back."

"I haven't been living all these years for nothing, boy, I told you it wasn't coincidence," he moved his way to the kitchen table, "is she helping you with that?"

"Yeah, she is." His voice grew softer. "And so's our son."

The old man sat down and frowned, "you have a son?"

"Yeah, I do. His name's Matthew. He's five years old." Oliver opened the box of chicken and set some on a plate, then moved around, pouring him a glass of tea.

He frowned more and lifted his stick, trying to whack Oliver with it, "and what are you doing here? Go take care of your son."

"He doesn't know I'm his dad. And don't try to hit me with that stick, Old Man."

Neil huffed and shook his head, "you take some responsibility for what you did."

 

Oliver snorted at that. "I fully intend to, don't worry so much." There was a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Good." He frowned, "is your girl going to let you do that?"

"Yeah. She understands," he said softly.

"You got lucky, boy." He told him.

 

"Don't I know it?" Oliver smiled a bit. "You eat. I'm gonna take a shower."

He nodded and waved his hand, reaching around for the chicken and starting to eat.

He patted Mr. Weatherford's shoulder and headed down the hallway toward his bedroom, gathering some clothes so he could change after his shower. Within forty-five minutes, he'd showered and helped the old man to his bedroom where Oliver knew he'd be out like a light for a good eight or so hours. Then he headed to his own bedroom, tired again from the day's events. Within moments he'd fallen asleep.

 

* * *

**February 12, 2010**

He pulled the bow back, letting another arrow fly before he glanced at her over his shoulder. "And sometimes...it's right in front of your face." His voice was quiet and he gave her a faint smile. "You just have to want to see it. Come on."

Chloe considered him for a moment and raised her eyebrows a little, a smile appearing on her lips as she put her glass down and walked over to him silently.

He smiled, moving so he was positioned behind her and handing her his bow with one hand.

She took the bow and pulled the arrow back, keeping her eyes on the target even as she felt him moving behind her, "how do I know when to let go?" She asked in a whisper.

 

He slid one hand lightly against her arm until his fingers were resting lightly over hers. "It's all about your heart," he whispered. "Just listen. Right there in between the beats." His mouth was close to her ear and the scent of her shampoo and the combination of having her so close was as intoxicating as the single malt scotch. He looked to the target. "And that's when you let go."

Chloe stilled, glancing down at his hand over hers, then looked over at the target again, swallowing hard and stilling again for a second before releasing the arrow.

 

A smile touched his lips as it hit the outer rim of the target. "Good job," he whispered, his hand moving to rest on her hip.

She let out a breath and lowered the bow, but didn't pull away, "you make it sound so easy."

"You hit the target on your first try. That's impressive." Oliver's head was nearly touching hers. "Want to try again?"

"Yeah," she told him, turning her head and looking up at him.

He nodded slightly, meeting her eyes for a moment before his gaze dropped to her mouth. He reached down and picked up another arrow, nocking it into the bow for her.

Chloe blinked once but kept her eyes on him, standing up straight and holding the bow up again.

Oliver slid his hand over her arm once more, his touch light, ghosting across her skin like a butterfly.

She shivered softly, taking a deep breath as the focused her eyes on the target.

He watched as she released another arrow, this time lodging into the wall behind the target. A small, amused smirk touched his mouth. "Are you having fun yet, Watchtower?" he murmured.

 

Chloe let out her breath slowly and set the bow down on the floor carefully, "probably better I stop now before someone loses an eye."

"Can't be great at _everything_ ," he teased. "The rest of us would become useless."

She bit down on her bottom lip and turned to face him, "why not? You are."

"Hardly," he murmured, meeting her eyes.

"That's not what I heard," she told him, holding his gaze.

His eyes darkened a little at the implications of what she was saying. "That's hardly _everything_ , Chloe." His hands moved to settle lightly on her hips.

"It's a big portion of everything, isn't it?" She smirked slightly and raised a single brow.

 

There were teetering dangerously toward crossing a line that he knew once crossed, couldn't ever be uncrossed. "It's important," he murmured, shifting a little closer to her.

She didn't pull back, just raised her eyebrows a little more and stared up at him, "an important part to having _fun_."

 

"No arguments here." He held her gaze, pulling her a little closer, one of his hands moving to rest at the small of her back. It was the closest they'd ever been physically and he swallowed hard, his pupils narrowing as his body responded to her nearness.

Chloe considered him for a moment, her own eyes dark, as she chewed on the inside of her lip and lifted her hands to his arms.

"What do you want, Chloe?" His voice was barely a whisper.

She arched one eyebrow at him, "to have fun."

"You know what I want?" he murmured, searching her eyes.

"Tell me," she told him, holding his gaze.

"You," he whispered.

Chloe held her breath for a second then smirked slowly, "I'm right here."

Oliver dipped his head and kissed her without further hesitation, one of his hands moving to tangle in her blond curls.

She made a quiet noise and closed her eyes, returning the kiss instantly.

 

He shifted closer to her, his body now pressed against hers intimately as he slowly deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue lightly along her lips and seeking entrance.

Her lips parted under his and she moved a hand up to cup the back of his neck, her other arm wrapping around him as she moved as close as possible.

Oliver groaned softly, the intensity of the kiss overwhelming him. He hadn't expected that. Not with Chloe. He'd expected something else--softer or more tender. But not this. Not the heat between them. Not the kind of intense fire that made him reach down and scoop her into his arms, walking them unsteadily over to the wall without breaking the kiss.

Chloe wrapped her legs around him without hesitation, kissing him hungrily as her fingers slid into his hair.

He pressed her back against the wall, one arm still around her as his free hand trailed up her body, cupping her breasts gently in his palm. She wanted fun, and he was damn sure going to give it to her. She deserved it. Hell, maybe he did, too.

She moaned at the touch, legs tightening around him as she broke the kiss so she could breathe.

His breathing was ragged and unsteady as he gazed at her, his eyes dark with arousal. "This is what you want?" he murmured.

"Yes," she told him, holding his gaze as she moved her hands down his back, yanking his t-shirt up.

Oliver let her pull the shirt off over his head before he shifted, dipping his head to kiss her neck. Her skin was soft and smelled fresh, clean. He slid a hand up and beneath her shirt, his hand resting against her bare stomach for a moment before he pulled back enough to remove her shirt, as well.

Chloe shivered, closing her eyes as she rested her head back against the wall for a moment before shifting up so he told remove her shirt, she took a deep breath and looked at him again, holding his gaze as she ran a hand down his chest slowly.

He smiled at her, his thumb rubbing lightly over her nipple, through the lacy material of her bra, feeling it harden into a peak beneath his touch.

She took a deep breath and smirked at him, "I should tell you now, I'm not very... _patient_."

 

"Some things are worth waiting for," he responded, smirking back at her.

"Waiting is not a word I'm interested in right now," she told him, biting down on her bottom lip and reaching to undo his jeans.

 

Oliver raised an eyebrow at that, reaching down to still her hand. "I'll make it worth your while," he whispered, brushing his nose lightly against hers.

Holding his gaze, she raised an eyebrow, moving her face closer so she was whispering against his lips, "I suppose I could see what you've got."

He kissed her again, keeping her pressed tightly to the wall as he reached his hands up and unclasped her bra, letting it slide down her arms and onto the floor. "I'll bring my A game," he promised.

Chloe smirked slowly and took a deep breath, face flushing, "let's see, then."

 

He smirked back at her, then without warning, dipped his head and captured a nipple between his lips, swirling his tongue around it and suckling gently.

Her eyes widened for a moment before she closed them again, moaning.

The sound of her moaning was as intoxicating as everything else about her. He slid his hand slowly beneath her skirt, caressing her inner thighs before allowing his fingers to brush lightly over her underpants.

"Oh," she sighed, her hips moving toward his touch instantly but her eyes remained shut.

 

A smile touched his lips at the softly uttered word, and he gently pushed her underwear aside, easing a finger into her. He groaned slightly as her inner walls gripped onto him tightly.

Chloe lifted a hand to hold on to his shoulder, moaning, "Oliver."

 

* * *

**July 9, 2016**

 

Oliver sat up suddenly, swallowing hard as his heart beat quickly against his chest. He looked at the clock on his nightstand. A little after 2 in the morning. He rubbed a hand over his face, feeling, among other things, dazed from the dream. He had to see her. Now.

Within moments he'd dressed and jumped on his bike, driving across town to the Hilton with his bow and quiver on his back. He parked his bike in the alley behind the hotel, looking up toward the balcony off her bedroom. He aimed his bow upward, rapelling up and onto her balcony. Then he knocked on the glass door.

Chloe opened her eyes wide when she heard the knocking, but laid on the bed completely still until she heard it again, her heart beating fast as she looked around for a moment, she didn't have a gun in there, so a hanger would have to do. She grabbed it and held it out like a weapon, walking into the main room slowly, lowering it when she saw him standing outside.

She sighed deeply, calming herself and throwing the hanger on the couch before walking over to the balcony, unlocking it and opening it for him, motioning for him to be quiet as she led the way back to the bedroom, she knew it would be impossible to get Matthew to go to bed if he knew Ollie was back.

Oliver followed her silently into the bedroom, shutting the bedroom door behind him softly, and turning the lock. Then he turned to face her, his eyes dark. "Did I ever give you an archery lesson?"

Blinking, she stilled at the look on his face, suddenly completely out of breath, she knew that look well. "Yes."

He swallowed hard, shifting closer to her, an almost subconscious move. "Did it end up with the two of us..."

With a deep breath, she nodded, watching him closely with wide eyes, "first time we did."

"You were wearing this...forest green shirt," he murmured, resting a hand on her hip. "And this black skirt." He lifted his other hand to her face, then slid his fingers into her hair. "And your hair was shorter. Curly."

Chloe placed both hands over his arms and nodded slowly, watching him, "we had whiskey," she whispered.

"Not _that_ much." He met her eyes.

"No," she held her breath, "you decided to make that night much more enjoyable for both of us."

"You said you hadn't had any fun since you couldn't remember." He gazed at her.

"And you," she whispered, smiling slowly, "completely changed my life before I could even tell what you were doing."

A smile tugged at his mouth. "I was that good, huh?" he teased.

"The best I've ever had," she told him sincerely, lifting a hand to cup his cheek.

He leaned down and kissed her on the mouth, with a little more urgency than their previous kisses.

Chloe's eyes widened, but she returned the kiss instantly, wrapping her arms around him as she did.

Oliver slid his arms around her, as well, pulling her closer, against him. He turned them so her back was against the door as he deepened the kiss.

She moaned against his mouth, a leg wrapping around him instantly, her entire body awake and far too aware of what was happening, like it had missed him as much as she had.

The moment her leg went around his waist, he shifted slightly, lifting her off the floor. He ended the kiss so they both catch their breath, his eyes meeting hers with intensity. "Do you want me to stop?" His voice was quiet.

When he picked her up, she locked her legs around him, crossing her feet behind him and took a deep breath, "stopping is the last thing I want you to do."

"Thank God," he whispered, kissing her again.

 

Chloe returned the kiss and smiled just a little against his mouth, kissing him hungrily.

Oliver broke the kiss, trailing his lips down her neck and to the front of her throat, kissing her there, tasting her skin with his tongue even as he slid a hand beneath her short, sleeveless nightgown.

She shivered, closing her eyes, "god, I missed you," she whispered, reaching over and undoing the zipper of his vest.

He nuzzled her cheek with his nose, then kissed her ear. "Pretty sure I missed you, too," he whispered back, shrugging out of the vest.

Grinning softly, she shuddered, closing her eyes for a moment and running her hands over his skin slowly, "feels like it."

He smiled a little at that, kissing the corner of her mouth as he eased a finger inside of her.

Chloe moaned, quickly closing her mouth and her eyes then lowering her head to his shoulder and taking a deep breath, "Ollie..."

"You okay?" he murmured, growing still.

She nodded and took a deep breath, "have to remember to be quiet," she breathed.

Oliver kissed her softly, pulling her away from the door. "You're right," he whispered, carrying her over to the bed.

Chloe lifted her head and looked at him, lifting a hand to touch his face as he carried her to the bed.

"I want us to do this right," he admitted softly, laying her down on the bed gently and holding her gaze.

A soft smile appeared on her lips and she looked up at him, "it would never be wrong with you."

His eyes softened at that as he slid over her, dipping his head to kiss her softly.

She smiled against his lips and kissed him slowly rubbing her fingertips against the familiar muscles of his back, it felt like no time had passed at all, and it had been over six years since they had been like this.

Oliver pulled back to gaze at her, his eyes intense. "I need to tell you something, but I'm a little worried you might freak."

Blinking, she frowned a little, shaking her head, "you can tell me anything."

He held her gaze. "I love you. I don't remember when it happened, but I do feel it. And every time I dream about you, it gets more intense."

Her face softened and she took a deep breath, her heart beating faster. She could finally tell him, after all these years, he was there, staring down at her, "I love you too," she whispered, her voice shaking, "I love you, Ollie and... I never had the chance to tell you before and it was one of my biggest regrets." She whispered, her eyes glassy with tears.

He pressed a tender kiss to her cheek, resting his forehead against hers. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "But I'm here now. And you can tell me all you need to."

 

Chloe shook her head, brushing her nose against his, "you're here now, and I'm never making that mistake again, and I'm never letting you go again."

"Good," he whispered. "I don't want you to. I want this life. With you and Matthew and Mia." He swallowed hard.

She smiled softly, shifting and wrapping both arms around him, hugging him close, "you complete everything."

He shifted, rolling them so she was on top of him, not wanting to crush her. "I'm glad," he murmured.

"I don't think I could possibly put into words how amazing you being here is," she told him quietly, laying on top of him and leaning down to kiss him gently.

He caressed her cheek with his hand, returning the kiss without hesitation.

Chloe traced her fingers over his cheek as she kissed him then pulled back, "I'm glad you're starting to remember."

"You and me both," he said quietly, watching her.

"Can you stay the night?" She asked him, looking him in the eyes.

"Yes," he responded without hesitation. "If that's okay."

"I don't want to ever sleep without you again if I can help it," she admitted quietly.

Oliver reached up and brushed some hair back and out of her face. "I can't promise _never_ ," he said softly.

"I know," she whispered, smiling a little, "this is a good start."

He held her gaze. It really was.


	17. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: [](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/profile)[**chloeas**](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/) and [](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/profile)[**dl_greenarrow**](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/)  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[Chapter 1](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html) \- [Chapter 2](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/672384.html) \- [Chapter 3](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/678875.html) \- [Chapter 4](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/684594.html) \- [Chapter 5](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/689971.html) \- [Chapter 6](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/692290.html) \- [Chapter 7](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/694140.html) \- [Chapter 8](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/697544.html) \- [Chapter 9](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/702109.html) \- [Chapter 10](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/708445.html) \- [Chapter 11](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/711816.html) \- [Chapter 12](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/717148.html) \- [Chapter 13](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/721563.html) \- [Chapter 14](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/727279.html) \- [Chapter 15](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/731118.html) \- [Chapter 16](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/738258.html)

**July 9, 2016**

Chloe shifted a little in her sleep as she started to wake up, but wasn't able to move much with the heavy leg and arm draped around her, she was barely conscious but she was fully aware of who those limbs belonged to. A moment later, she took a deep breath and opened her eyes, shifting a little closer to Oliver as she tightened her arm around him, closing her eyes just for a second when she realized how sore she was.

Six years was a long, _long_ time, and if she felt sore the morning after with Oliver normally, she knew this was going to happen today, but she didn't care. She didn't care if she couldn't walk for a week, although it might be hard to explain that one to Matthew, she hadn't felt this good, this _whole_ in a very long time.

He pulled her closer even in his state of half-sleep, his nose rubbing against her cheek and then her neck, his eyes remaining shut. "Morning," he murmured.

She smiled softly and leaned in, kissing his temple, "morning."

After a moment, he slowly lifted his head to look down at her sleepily, a smile on his face.

Chloe lifted her hand, touching his cheek and smiled softly at him, "did you sleep well?"

"Yes," he murmured, leaning into her touch even as his eyes drifted shut once more. "Did you?"

"Really well," she told him quietly.

"Good." He dipped his head and kissed her softly on the lips, lifting his own hand to her cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"Good," she grinned softly and kissed him again, "sore, you?"

Oliver paused at that, shifting a hand to rest against her hip. "I'm fine." There was a hint of worry in his eyes.

"I'm _fine_ ," she told him, smiling brightly, "don't get that look on your face..."

He relaxed a little at her smile. "I just don't want you to be in pain."

"Trust me, after giving birth, there is no such thing as pain," she smirked a little, "this is not a big deal, Ollie."

A small smile tugged at his lips and he kissed her once more, then slid his arms around her, rolling them so she was laying on top of him. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, laying his own head back against the pillows and stroking a hand down her bare back.

Chloe sighed softly and smiled, kissing him gently as she adjusted to the position, "I'm surprised Matthew isn't banging on the door yet..."

"Mia probably has him corralled," he teased. "She's good with him."

"She is," she grinned a little, "I don't know how I would have managed without her help."

Oliver reached up and tucked some hair behind her ear. "My guess is you would have been all right," he said quietly.

"I'm glad I didn't have to find out," she told him quietly, leaning into his touch.

"Me too." He gazed at her for a moment. "Are you hungry? We could shower and order room service."

"Sounds good," she said with a nod, turning her head and pressing a kiss to his palm.

He sat up, hugging her to him tightly for a moment, then kissed her brow. Then he slid off the bed, scooping her up and into his arms.

Chloe grinned softly and wrapped her arms around his neck, everything with him felt so familiar, like he hadn't been gone at all, "did you have any other dreams?"

"No, not this time," he admitted, carrying her into the bathroom.

She nodded a little, running her fingers over his hair, "I'm glad you're remembering things..."

"Things feel familiar," he told her, setting her down to turn the hot water on in the shower.

"I was just thinking that," she told him, raising an eyebrow, sighing softly as the water hit her back, then looking up at him, "I'm glad you think so too."

Oliver leaned in, kissing her softly and leaning his forehead against hers. "What should I do?" he asked quietly.

Chloe raised her eyebrows a little but didn't pull away, "about what?"

He was silent for a moment. "The fortress thing for one."

She took a deep breath and looked at him for a moment before picking up the soap and starting to wash him, "well... regardless of what my relationship with Clark is like right now, I know he is trying to help. He feels guilty and the fortress has been able to alter memory before."

"It's that word 'alter' that makes me nervous. I want to remember everything, but I don't want some alien changing my memories, either." He frowned a little.

Frowning a little, she nodded, "I don't know how it would work," she admitted, "Clark erased my memory once, but I got it back a while later."

Oliver stared at her. "He _erased_ your memory?" he echoed.

"It's not as bad as it sounds," Chloe assured him, "and I'm trying to only give you relevant information right now so it doesn't overwhelm you, but he erased my memory because he thought my life would be easier if I didn't know his secret, he was trying to protect me."

"And that was his call to make?"

"No," Chloe agreed, "but that's the thing about Clark, he thinks he's responsible for all of us and everything that happens to us."

He rolled his eyes. "It doesn't give him the right to take things out of your mind, Chloe." He was already disliking Clark.

"It doesn't," she watched him for a moment, running her hands over his back, "just like he didn't have the right to decide whether or not we should kill Zod while he was still human, but we let him."

Oliver let out a breath, shifting closer to her and winding his arms around her.

She wrapped her arms around him and shook her head a little, "I'm not saying you should take him up on his offer, but I do think it would work and that you would be okay."

Oliver closed his eyes, pressing a kiss against her temple. "I'll consider it," he whispered.

Chloe lifted a hand to his face, brushing her thumb gently over his cheek, "I will try my best to answer questions if you have them."

"I can't really think of any others right now." He gazed down at her, turning his head and kissing her thumb.

She watched him for a moment, "whatever you want to do, Ollie, is okay with me."

"I appreciate that, Chloe." He met her eyes.

Chloe nodded a little and leaned in, kissing him softly.

His eyes drifted shut as he rested his hands on her hips, drawing her closer to him as the hot water sprayed down on them.

She rubbed her hands slowly over his back, keeping her eyes closed as she leaned against him, feeling his arms around her and his lips over hers and just relaxing, she knew now it was real, but it still felt like she was dreaming.

He kissed her temple, holding onto her tightly.

Bliss.

* * *

About forty minutes later, Chloe and Oliver finally made their way out of the bedroom and Chloe was surprised to find the main room empty, she frowned a little and looked into the other two rooms, no sign of Mia or Matthew, "they must have gone out for breakfast..."

"We're in the kitchen, actually." Mia poked her head out of the room with a smirk on her face.

"Well, you're awfully quiet," Chloe said, completely ignoring the look on Mia's face and glancing at Ollie instead.

"At least some of us are." Her smirk brightened a little and she ducked back into the kitchen.

Oliver's eyes widened a little and he looked at Chloe.

Chloe took a deep breath and shook her head at him, reaching for his hand, "there's no way," she whispered.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "It's...possible." He grinned a little, taking her hand.

She grinned a little and shook her head, tugging on his hand and starting into the kitchen, "c'mon..." she told him, then stilled completely as soon as she saw _who_ was in the kitchen, her son on her lap, "now I really don't believe you guys managed to stay quiet."

Lois narrowed her eyes at her cousin. "Aren't you a riot." Her gaze shifted to Oliver and she held her breath, staring at him. "You...are a sight for sore eyes."

"Mommy, aunt Lois brought bagels!" Matthew said, taking another bite then looking at Oliver as he chewed, "when did you come over?"

"Early," he said without hesitation. "Before you were even awake."

Mia smirked at him, then raised an eyebrow at Chloe.

Oliver looked at Lois uncertainly, and then back at Chloe.

"Right," Chloe said, glancing at Mia then back at Ollie, "this is my cousin, Lois. She likes giving you a hard time, I doubt it will be any different now."

He offered Lois a small, somewhat hesitant smile. "Hey."

She placed a kiss against the back of Matthew's head and set him down on the floor, rising to her feet. Then she hugged Oliver wordlessly before hugging her cousin.

Chloe smiled softly and glanced at Ollie out of the corner of her eyes then hugged her cousin back tightly.

Matthew ran up to Oliver and took his hand, "come eat!"

He grinned involuntarily at Matthew. "What kind of cream cheese is it?" he asked, letting the boy tug him to the table.

"Hm, I dunno," he said, looking at the table then back at Ollie, "but it's good!"

Oliver sat down in the chair Lois had vacated and lifted Matthew onto his lap without a second thought. "Looks like strawberry to me," he said, picking up a bagel and spreading the cream cheese on it. He cut it in half and gave one half to Matthew, then took a bite of his own half.

Lois watched them with raised eyebrows. "Whoa," she muttered.

Chloe took a deep breath and watched them with a smile on her face then nodded a little, "yeah, I know."

"It's almost kinda creepy how alike they look," Mia added, watching them too.

Oliver noticed the three women staring at them with fascination and he shrugged a little, a grin tugging at his lips.

Chloe grinned at Ollie then looked up at her cousin, "so what are you doing here?"

"Well, I was starting to think you weren't ever coming back, so I figured I'd better visit." Lois looped her arm through Chloe's.

"I'm glad you did," she told her, raising her eyebrows a little, "I'm not sure how things are gonna work out yet."

"Still no luck with the memory thing?" Lois looked back at Ollie.

"A little," he said quietly.

"He's remembering some things here and there," Chloe explained, her eyes on Ollie, "but just random situations..."

Oliver met her eyes, his own sparkling with amusement. "Yeah. Random."

Chloe grinned and looked down, face flushing slightly.

Matthew looked up at Ollie curiously as he chewed on a bagel.

He smiled at his son. "Is that good?"

Lois smirked knowingly, looking between them, and then at Mia. "And I think 'random' wasn't exactly the right adjective."

Mia smirked and shook her head, "no, it's not, I would know, I had to listen to most of it."

"Listen to what?" Matthew asked curiously.

"Bagels," Chloe said, walking over to the table, "thanks for bringing them."

Lois grinned at Mia. "Anytime, Cuz. Thought you might be hungry. Sounds like I was probably right."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "This is all very cute, really." He gave Lois a look, and then Mia.

Matthew frowned and pouted, looking up at them.

Chloe sighed softly and shook her head, brushing his hair back, "aunt Lois is being silly, baby, don't pay attention to her."

"She just enjoys giving me a hard time," Oliver told Matthew.

"Speaking of hard time--" Lois began with a smirk.

"Lois." Mia gave her a look. "Why don't we go for a walk?"

"I think that's a great idea," Chloe added, raising her eyebrows at her cousin.

"Can I come?" Matthew asked, looking up at his mom.

Oliver raised his eyebrows, as well.

"Of course you can." Lois smiled and held her hand out to him.

Matthew grinned and took her hand then paused and frowned when Oliver didn't get up, "you're not coming?"

Oliver shook his head. "I've got some errands I have to run, Champ."

"I bet." Lois smirked, looking from him to Chloe.

"Lois..." Chloe shook her head a little then looked at Matthew, "he'll be back later. You should go and make aunt Lois buy you ice cream."

Oliver smirked back at Lois, ruffling Matthew's hair. "You guys have fun, and enjoy the ice cream. I'll see you again soon."

"Okay," he agreed, then let go of Lois' hand and reached to hug Ollie then his mom quickly.

He watched the three of them head away and then looked over at Chloe with a small smile.

Chloe smiled softly at him and stepped closer, placing a hand over his shoulder, "so that's Lois..."

"She's very abrasive," he said with amusement, reaching out and resting his hands on her hips.

"That's one way of putting it," Chloe smirked softly and leaned down, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

He closed his eyes, then gently tugged her down so she was on his lap.

Chloe smiled softly and adjusted, wrapping her arms around his neck, "you have to go see Mr. Weatherford?"

"I do." He gazed at her. "You want to come with me?"

"Yeah, if you don't mind," she told him quietly, running her fingers through his hair gently.

"I don't mind at all," he told her, kissing her softly.

Chloe kissed him back, hugging him gently as she did.

Oliver slid his arms around her as they kissed, then nuzzled his nose against hers.

She smiled at him, resting her forehead against his, "this is nice."

"Yes it is," he whispered, hugging her close to him.

Chloe sighed deeply and pressed kisses to the corner of his mouth then his cheek, she wanted to ask him to just get his things and stay at the hotel with them, but she knew that would be selfish, if he was taking care of the old man, she was going to help him do it and not try to pull him away from it.

Oliver smiled, rubbing his hand over her back as he held her. He pressed a kiss to her temple, lifting one hand to her cheek and pulling back enough to gaze at her.

She lifted her head a little and looked down at him and smiled, leaning into his touch and holding his gaze.

He stood up slowly, setting her carefully on her feet. Then he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Come on," he said softly.

Nodding, Chloe stood and reached for his hand, "where does he live?"

"Other side of town." He paused. "I have my bike. You okay with riding it?"

"Of course," she told him, picking up her purse on her way to the door, "your bike is still in Metropolis, by the way, well, the other one."

He cocked his head to the side. "I have another bike?"

"How do you think Green Arrow got around?" She told him with a smirk.

Oliver grinned at her, lacing his fingers through hers. "I thought maybe he had the ability to fly and just didn't remember it," he responded.

Chloe made a face and shook her head, "flying is overrated, bikes are hotter."

He tugged her closer and kissed her softly before leading her toward the door.


	18. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: chloeas and dl_greenarrow  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[One](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html) | [Two](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/672384.html) | [Three](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/678875.html) | [Four](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/684594.html) | [Five](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/689971.html) | [Six](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/692290.html) | [Seven](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/694140.html) | [Eight](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/697544.html) | [Nine](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/702109.html) | [Ten](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/708445.html) | [Eleven](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/711816.html) | [Twelve](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/717148.html) | [Thirteen](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/721563.html) | [Fourteen](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/727279.html) | [Fifteen](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/731118.html) | [Sixteen](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/738258.html) | [Seventeen](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/744120.html) |

**July 9, 2016**

Chloe looked around the neighborhood as they stepped up toward the front door, "so how did you meet Mr. Weatherford anyway?" She asked curiously, her hand in his as she ran her other hand through her hair, hoping it looked decent enough after wearing the helmet on the way there. She knew Ollie was taking care of the old man and knew he had been staying with him, she just didn't know why or how it had happened.

He paused, his keys dangling from the door lock. "He was on his way home from the store. It was kind of late at night. A couple of muggers went after him. I happened to be on a nearby rooftop," he admitted.

 

"Oh," Chloe smiled a little at him, "does he know? About you?"

"Sort of," he said quietly. "He knows I'm Green Arrow. And that my first name is Oliver."

 

Nodding, she watched him, "good to know."

"He knows about you. And Matthew," he admitted softly, a small smile on his face. "I think you're going to like him."

Chloe smiled and leaned in, kissing his cheek, "I'm sure I will."

He unlocked the door and stepped inside. "Hey, Old Man, I brought someone for you to meet," he called with a grin.

She grinned softly and squeezed his hand, "think he's asleep?"

"Or he's just ignoring me," he said with a smirk, guiding her into the front room. The old man was in his arm chair, battery-powered radio beside him. "Mr. Weatherford, this is Chloe."

Chloe smiled softly as she saw the old man, the house was small and incredibly cluttered, she wondered how he managed to navigate without hurting himself, but she guessed he knew exactly where the clutter was, "Hi Mr. Weatherford."

When he didn't respond, Oliver felt his chest tighten a little. "Mr. Weatherford?" He squeezed Chloe's hand and then let go of it, moving over toward the chair.

She took a step closer, and reached for her phone inside her purse, just in case, "is he sleeping?" She asked quietly.

He reached out and pressed two fingers to the old man's throat, his chest tightening even more. "No," he whispered.

Her eyes widened a little and she took a deep breath, quickly dialing 911 and getting the address from Ollie before hanging up the phone, "they will be here soon."

"He's cold," Oliver said very softly.

"Ollie," Chloe said quietly, stepping close, "I'm sorry."

He simply nodded a little and reached out carefully to switch off the radio.

She swallowed hard and placed a hand on Ollie's back, looking down at the old man for a second then back at Ollie, "maybe we should wait outside?" She asked quietly.

"I'll be out in a minute," he said quietly.

"Okay," she whispered to him, rubbing her hand over his back once before turning around and walking over to the front door.

 

Oliver swallowed hard as he felt her leave the room and his gaze rested on Mr. Weatherford's face. "Sorry, Old Man," he whispered. "Thanks for your help."

Chloe sighed softly as she closed the door behind herself, rubbing her hand over her face. If she knew Ollie at all, she knew he would be blaming himself for this, for leaving Mr. Weatherford alone the previous night.

* * *

It took only moments for the paramedics and the fire department to arrive, a little longer for the police, and much, much longer for the coroner. Oliver sat silently on the porch beside Chloe, staring ahead with a blank expression.

Chloe had an arm around him, but she wasn't saying anything, just letting him work through this. She had called Mia while Ollie was talking to the cops and told her they wouldn't be back for a while.

He rubbed a hand over his face tiredly, letting out a breath and shutting his eyes for a moment. "We should go." His voice was quiet.

"Are you sure?" She asked him quietly, lifting a hand to rub against the back of his neck, "I don't mind staying, Ollie."

He leaned into her touch. "There's really nothing left to be done," he said softly.

"Is there anywhere else you'd rather go?" She asked quietly, "or just back to the hotel?"

"Hotel's fine," he assured her, drawing in a breath and rising to his feet. He held his hand out to help her up.

Chloe nodded slightly and took his hand, squeezing it and watching him closely.

"I'm okay, Chloe." His voice was soft.

She nodded slightly and stared up at him for a moment longer, "let me know if you're not, you don't have to keep things to yourself."

"I know." He met her eyes, swallowing hard. "Let's just get back."

"Okay," she whispered, stepping aside and walking with him to the bottom of the stairs.

Oliver forced himself to take a deep breath as he handed her his helmet once more and climbed onto his motorcycle, rubbing a hand across his eyes as he started the bike.

Chloe wrapped her arms tightly around him, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. She knew it would take him a while to work through this, he had lost more than his share of people before and she knew from experience, it never got any easier, but hopefully having her and Matthew and Mia around would help him get through this.

* * *

Oliver parked the bike behind the hotel but made no move to get off it even once he'd shut it off. His hands were on the handles and he let his head drop forward and his eyes close.

She tightened her arms around him for a moment then got out of the bike slowly, taking the helmet off then rubbing his arm, "c'mon, Ollie, lets get you upstairs."

When he opened his eyes to look at her, they were blurry with tears. "Yeah. All right." He climbed off the bike and took the helmet from her, securing it on the bike and rubbing his hand over his eyes.

Chloe looked up at him and held her breath at the sight of his tears, "come here," she told him quietly, wrapping her arms around him.

 

He rested his chin atop her head, closing his eyes tightly. "I didn't even know him that well. You know?"

"But you still went out of your way to help him, to take care of him, Ollie," she whispered, rubbing his back, "that's what matters."

His arms tightened around her just a little. "Maybe," he murmured.

She tightened her arms around him a little more, "I have no doubt he appreciated it," she told him quietly, pressing a kiss to his collarbone.

"He was a good guy," he said quietly. "He took me in no questions asked. I didn't have anyplace else to go." He paused. "At least I didn't know I did."

 

Chloe nodded slightly, "what was he like?"

 

A small, sad smile tugged at his lips. "A grumpy old man," he admitted.

She pulled back enough to look up at him and smiled a little, "yeah?"

He nodded, meeting her eyes. "He would've liked you."

"I wish I could have met him," she said quietly, looking up at him, "thank him for taking care of you."

Oliver leaned his forehead against hers, closing his eyes.

She watched him for a moment then lifted a hand, brushing her thumb over his cheek slowly as she rubbed her other hand over his back soothingly.

"Come on. Let's go inside," he said quietly, exhaling slowly. "It'll be the last quiet night for awhile."

Chloe frowned a little and looked up at him, "what do you mean?"

Oliver opened his eyes and met her gaze. "The cops knew who I was. By the morning, Oliver Queen's "miraculous" resurrection will be all over the news."

"I hadn't thought about that. We can be gone by then if you're not ready for this, Ollie." She told him quietly.

He smiled just a bit. "It won't matter where we go, Chloe," he murmured. "It'll be national news."

"Who said I was thinking national?" She told him quietly, smiling a little at him, "but it's your choice, I'll have Tess handle everything on the QI front."

Oliver raised an eyebrow uncertainly. "Leave the country?"

"Only if you want to." Chloe assured him, "and we don't have to make any decisions now."

He was quiet for a moment. "Have to face it sometime anyway, right?"

Chloe nodded a little, reaching for his hand, "I'll be with you," she assured him.

He gazed at her. "Maybe it'd be best if you weren't," he said very softly. "You really want Matthew in the spotlight?"

"I have managed to keep him away from the cameras for five and a half years," she told him, "we can handle it and keep him out of this."

"I wish I was as confident about that as you." He kissed her forehead.

She reached down and took his hand, "c'mon, maybe some time with your son will make you feel a little better."

He squeezed her hand and followed her toward the entrance of the hotel, a blank expression on his face.

Chloe watched him as they walked but remained silent as the elevator took them to the top floor and even as she slid the car into the door, the noise from inside greeting them as soon as they opened the door, Mia and Lois were talking, the TV was on and although she couldn't see Matthew at first she heard him squealing, "they are back!" and seconds later, the little boy had his arms around both of their legs.

"Hey," she said quietly, smiling, "we missed you too."

 

Oliver swallowed hard, leaning down and patting Matthew's back gently. "Hey, Kiddo."

"I made you pictures," he told them, smiling excitedly up at them.

"You did?" He smiled.

"Come see!" Matthew told Ollie, taking his hand.

He nodded and let Matthew lead him into the kitchen where several pictures lay on the table. "Which one's mine?"

"This one!" He picked up the drawing that had a bow and an arrow and two people in it, "it's me and you and when you helped me find my arrow at the park and mommy didn't know where I was!"

 

Oliver's eyes softened a little and he knelt down so he was at the same level as Matthew. "Thank you. You're quite an artist, Champ."

Matthew smiled then cocked his head, "why do you call me Champ?"

He paused at that. "Well, it's short for 'Champion.'" He smiled at Matthew and ruffled his hair.

"Oh," he considered for a moment then grinned, "I like it!"

"Yeah?" Oliver's own smile brightened a little.

Matthew nodded a little and smiled then picked up a sheet of paper and held it out to Oliver, "you should make a picture too."

"What should I draw?" he asked, taking the paper from him.

"Something for mommy," he suggested then shrugged a little before pausing, "can you draw a dinosaur?"

He grinned a little. "Does your mommy like dinosaurs?"

"I like them," Matthew grinned, "mommy likes... coffee."

Oliver chuckled softly. "She does, huh?" He sat down at the table. "What kind of dinosaur do you like?"

"Brontosaurs!" He answered quickly, "the ones with the loooong neck."

He grinned and nodded a little, making a quick sketch of a brontosaur that looked more like a giraffe.

"Woah," Matthew said, eyes widening as he looked at Oliver's drawing, "can you teach me to do that?"

Oliver raised an eyebrow, looking down at the very badly drawn picture and glanced at Matthew. "Actually I think you draw better than me."

 

Matthew stared up at him, "you do?"

"Oh yeah. Definitely." He smiled. "Maybe you can teach _me_ how to draw."

Giggling, Matthew shook his head a little, "I'm still learning too! The teacher said that we will draw more next time!"

He reached out and tickled the little boy's ribs. "Will you show me what you learn after you've learned it?"

Matthew laughed and squirmed, then nodded, "yes!"

 

"Cool." Oliver's eyes were bright.

"When we go home, are you coming too?" Matthew asked, cocking his head.

He paused at that, gazing at him. "You want me to?" he asked softly.

He raised his eyebrows and nodded slowly, looking at Oliver, "will you?"

Oliver smiled faintly and glanced up at Chloe as she walked into the kitchen. "I'll definitely think about it, okay?"

Matthew pouted a little but nodded, looking up at his mom when she walked up to the table, "Mommy, I made you a picture and Oliver made one too!"

Chloe looked at both of them, "oh yeah? Can I see it?"

He offered her a wry smile and handed over their pictures with a raised brow.

Matthew grinned up at her, "that's you and me and Mia and a dog!"

Chloe took the drawings and smiled at Matthew, "very nice, Matthew, thank you," she told him, kissing the top of his head then looked over at Ollie, looking at the other drawing, "and this is... a giraffe?" She asked him.

 

Oliver smirked. "Brontosaurus," he responded.

She grinned softly at Ollie and nodded, "I see."

Matthew held up his hand, "can I show Mia and aunt Lois?"

Chloe nodded and handed him the drawings, "go ahead."

Oliver watched him run out of the room and he drew in a breath and let it out slowly, looking up at Chloe once more.

She looked at him for a moment then leaned down, kissing his forehead softly, "how are you feeling?"

"A little better," he said quietly, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Matthew is pretty good about making people feel better," she told him, running her fingers through his hair gently.

He was quiet for a moment. "Chloe?"

"Yeah?" She said quietly.

Oliver pulled away from her and looked up to meet her eyes. "Are you going back to Metropolis?"

Chloe considered him for a moment, "I'm not going anywhere without you."

He relaxed at that and nodded a little, rising to his feet and dipping his head to kiss her softly, one hand lifting to her cheek.

She raised her eyebrows a little then closed her eyes, kissing him back just as softly as she placed her hands on his arms.

 

After a moment he rested his forehead against hers. "Do you think he has any idea?"

"I don't know," she admitted with a whisper, "he seems very comfortable with you."

"Is he usually like that with people?" he asked uncertainly.

Chloe shook her head, "he's usually not around a lot of new people," she admitted, "definitely not often, but he tends to be shy around people he doesn't know."

 

Matthew had been anything but shy around him. He thought about that for a moment, then kissed her cheek. "Maybe it's on a subconscious level," he said softly.

She nodded a little and took a deep breath, "I should talk to him, see if I can figure out what he's thinking and then we can figure out how to tell, when you're ready."

"All right," Oliver murmured.

Chloe took a deep breath and looked up at him, "I was thinking..."

He gazed at her silently, waiting for her to continue.

"Maybe you should talk to Lois about the whole fortress thing..." she told him quietly, "she has been dating Clark for... over six years and she talks to him and I'm sure he told her about it, maybe she can help you make up your mind, or at least give you a different point of view."

Oliver was quiet for a moment. "Yeah, maybe," he agreed softly.

 

Chloe nodded softly and kissed his cheek, "doesn't have to be tonight, whenever you feel like it."

He kissed her cheek in return. "You getting hungry? It's dinner time."

"Yeah, we should order something," she reached for his hand and squeezed it gently, "are you hungry?"

"Not really," he admitted, shaking his head.

"I didn't think so," she told him, "but you should eat a little something, at least sit down with us, I'm sure Lo had stories she wants to tell."

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "All right. I can do that."

Chloe nodded in relief, she figured a little distraction would be good for him, she reached up and cupped his cheek, kissing him softly again then took his hand, "c'mon."

He laced his fingers through hers and let her guide him into the living room where Lois, Mia and Matthew were sitting.

"Mommy, aunt Lois says we're hungry," Matthew told her as soon as Chloe walked into the room.

Lois grinned brightly. "Starving is more like it. What are we doing for dinner?"

"Order room service," Chloe said, smiling at her cousin.

"Again?" Matthew said, making a face.

 

"Maybe we could order pizza," Oliver suggested quietly, not looking at anyone in particular.

"Yes!" Matthew agreed quickly, "can we mommy?"

"I can't say I'm gonna argue against that one," Mia added.

Chloe raised her eyebrows a little, "pizza sounds good."

"Great. I'll call it in," Lois offered, rising to her feet and moving toward the phone.

Oliver watched her head away, then glanced at Mia. "I don't think I'm going to be very good company tonight," he said softly.

"Thanks, Lo," Chloe told her cousin, "my wallet is in my purse."

Mia looked over at him and shrugged, "you being company sounds good enough to me."

He rubbed the back of his neck, nodding a little and falling silent.

 

Matthew cocked his head a little and looked from Mia to Ollie, "are you sad?"

Oliver's chest tightened a little and he glanced at Chloe uncertainly.

Chloe looked at Ollie then nodded a little at Matthew, "Ollie just needs to be quiet for a while. He'll need a lot of hugs, and soon, he'll start feeling better, can you do that?"

Matthew pursed his lips together and nodded at his mom, then looked up at Ollie again.

Oliver offered him a faint smile and raked a hand through his hair.

Chloe pressed a kiss to Matthew's head and nodded a little at him, smiling softly.

Matthew smiled at his mom then walked over to Oliver and took his hand, "you should sit with us, and maybe mommy will make cocoa for us later, she always does when someone needs to feel better."

"I'd like that," Oliver whispered, giving his son's hand a gentle squeeze.

"Do you need anything?" Chloe asked Ollie, running a hand through Matthew's hair as he dragged him to the couch.

"No," he said softly, shaking his head a little. He sat down on the sofa and Matthew crawled up to sit beside him.

Matthew looked up at Ollie for a moment then hugged him.

Chloe smiled a little and looked at Ollie too, mouthing 'that okay?' to him.

Oliver hugged Matthew back, pressing a kiss to the top of his blond head without thinking about it. He met Chloe's eyes and held his other hand out to her.

She took his hand and smiled faintly at him before sitting down on the opposite side of Matthew, then leaning over her son and pressing a kiss to Ollie's shoulder.

He looked up at Mia and smiled faintly before motioning for her to join them.

Mia rolled her eyes then smiled, shifting closer to them, "is this gonna become a thing?" She joked.

"Isn't this what families do?" he asked, glancing at her with raised eyebrows. Not that he would know. And he doesn't expect her to, either. Not really.

"I guess," Mia said with a shrug, she didn't really know either.

Chloe raised an eyebrow a little, "I'm okay with it being what _our_ family does."

"Works for me," he said quietly, leaning over and kissing her temple.

She leaned over and wrapped her arm around Matthew and Ollie as she shifted closer to them.

"Mommy, you're squishing me."

Oliver grinned at that involuntarily, looking from Matthew to Chloe and then to Mia. And it was in that moment, sitting there with the three of them, that he knew what he had to do. He knew what Mr. Weatherford would have told him.

This was his family and he wanted to remember them.

He needed to remember them.

And despite his reservations, he'd take the chance.


	19. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: [](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/profile)[**chloeas**](http://chloeas.livejournal.com/) and [](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/profile)[**dl_greenarrow**](http://dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com/)  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[Chapter 1](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html) \- [Chapter 2](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/672384.html) \- [Chapter 3](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/678875.html) \- [Chapter 4](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/684594.html) \- [Chapter 5](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/689971.html) \- [Chapter 6](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/692290.html) \- [Chapter 7](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/694140.html) \- [Chapter 8](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/697544.html) \- [Chapter 9](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/702109.html) \- [Chapter 10](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/708445.html) \- [Chapter 11](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/711816.html) \- [Chapter 12](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/717148.html) \- [Chapter 13](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/721563.html) \- [Chapter 14](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/727279.html) \- [Chapter 15](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/731118.html) \- [Chapter 16](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/738258.html) \- [Chapter 17](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/744120.html) \- [Chapter 18](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/749982.html)

**July 10, 2016**

Oliver shivered involuntarily as he looked around the big ice castle with wide eyes. It was beautiful, really, like something straight out of a fantasy movie. But he still had no idea how a place was going to restore his memory. He glanced back at the other man with uncertainty. "So how exactly does this work, Big Blue?"

Clark pulled the crystal from his pocket, "this will activate the fortress, I already told Jor-El you might be coming here for help with your memory, so he is ready for you, all you have to do it stand on that spot," he motioned to the spot on the floor that had a circle-like form, where Clark himself had done all this training.

He drew in a breath and looked at the circle warily, then back at the crystal Clark was holding. "You realize this all sounds a bit crazy, right?" He stepped toward the spot anyway.

Nodding a little, Clark rubbed the back of his neck with his other hand, "it's Kryptonian technology, it took you a while to get used to it the first time around too."

"I've been here before?" Oliver looked at him curiously.

"No, but you've seen other things my people have built." He told him quietly, not quite meeting his eyes.

He watched Clark for a moment, then forced himself to take a deep breath. "Let's get this over with." He stepped into the circle.

Clark nodded, straightening up and stepping forward before placing the crystal in it's place, looking up when the crystals light up, "Jor-El, he is ready." A second later, Oliver was surrounded by a bright, blue-ish light.

Oliver's eyes widened a little at the bright lights suddenly wrapped around him. He shielded his eyes from it, squinting, then shut them as images began to flash in front of him.

Clark took a step back and watched, crossing his arms over his chest. It shouldn't be much longer now.

He pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling overwhelmed as he did his best to remain standing. A few moments later and the lights vanished. He drew in a breath, swallowing hard and turning to look at Clark with wide eyes.

Once it was over, Clark stepped closer and placed a hand on Oliver's shoulder for support, "did it work?"

Oliver looked back at him intently. "Yeah. It worked. I think I need to sit down for a minute," he confessed.

Clark nodded, leading Oliver to one of the steps made of ice and watching him closely as the other man sat down, not sure what to expect.

He sat for a few moments, focusing on his breath and then once he felt steady once more, he rose to his feet, gazing at Clark. "Thank you."

Raising his eyebrows slowly, Clark nodded, "are you feeling okay?"

"A little overwhelmed," he admitted. "But other than that...I feel fine."

"Do you still remember everything you learned in the past few days?"

"You mean the part where I have a son?" He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "Yeah. I remember everything. I think."

"Yeah," Clark agreed, looking down, "that's good."

Oliver hesitated a moment, then reached out and put a hand on Clark's shoulder. "Don't."

Clark frowned a little and looked at Oliver, confused.

"Guilt trip yourself. Don't." He shook his head a little.

He rubbed a hand over his face and nodded a little, "I can't blame her for blaming me."

"We both know that the problems you and Chloe have started long before I died, Clark. They never got resolved."

Clark shook his head a little, "no, they didn't, she didn't want me around her family."

Oliver was quiet for a moment. "Maybe it's time the two of you tried to sort things out," he said quietly.

"Maybe," he agreed although he didn't really believe that. He turned around and picked up the crystal then slid it inside his jacket pocket.

He watched Clark. "I need a favor."

"What is it?" Clark asked, turning around to face the other man once more.

A faint smile touched his lips. "I need to make a stop before you take me back to Star City."

* * *

Chloe had been restless since five in the morning, when she woke up to find Oliver gone and a note saying he was out for a run. That had been three hours ago and although she knew he had enough stamina to keep on running for that long, she knew he was still upset about Mr. Weatherford and she couldn't help but worry that he had somehow gotten himself in trouble.

"Mommy? Can we go to the beach today?" Matthew asked as he took a bite from his pancakes.

"If the sun isn't too hot, we can," she told him, wiping maple syrup from his cheek with a napkin.

"It's supposed to be in the eighties," Mia offered, taking a drink of orange juice. She watched Chloe carefully, knowing that the other woman was worried about Ollie.

"Sounds like a plan, then," she smiled a little at Mia, then looked at Matthew, "but we have to wait a while after you eat."

"Okay," he agreed, taking another bite then pushing his plate away, "I'm done!"

Mia smiled a bit and shook her head, taking a bite of pancake. "You're a mess, Kid," she told him, rising to her feet. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

"I'll start packing everything up that we'll need," she told them, getting up too and taking a deep breath as she watched them disappear into Matthew's room.

There was a soft knock on the hotel room door.

Chloe raised an eyebrow and looked at the door, frowning a little before walking over to it and opening carefully, relieved to see him standing there, "you could have taken one of the keys with you."

"I didn't think about it," he said honestly, meeting her eyes and searching them, one hand behind his back.

She nodded a little, watching him for a second then stepping aside for him to come in, "how was your run?" She asked, fully aware that if he had been running for three hours in a eighty degree temperature, he would be dripping sweat, but as it was, he was completely dry.

He stepped inside. "I didn't go on a run," he said softly, closing the door behind him and then holding out a small, rectangular package with a tiny bow.

Chloe looked down at the package then up at him, squinting a little as she took it from him before looking down again, her eyes widening when she saw a small sticker that said 'McDougal's Inn' in it, but she knew three hours wasn't long enough to get to Kansas and back, and she knew Ollie wasn't even supposed to remember that, her heart started beating faster, "how did you get this?"

"I flew," he murmured, shifting closer to her. "So I'm kinda hoping you'll at least open it this time." He watched her intently.

Her eyes widened slowly, a thousand questions popping into her head, but she took a deep breath and untied the bow, opening the small box instead of saying anything, not surprised to see the exact same spoon he had given her six years ago, her eyes tearing up as she smiled at him trying to process this, "you had another dream?"

"No," he whispered, reaching out to touch her face. "I didn't really go on a run this morning. I called Clark and...I let him take me to the Artic. I wasn't sure it would really work and I didn't want to get your hopes up if it didn't, but..." He brushed his nose lightly against hers. "I remember. All of it."

She stared at him for a moment, still holding on to the box as she lifted her hands to his arms, "all of it?" She asked quietly, her voice breaking.

Oliver pulled her closer to him, pressing a kiss to her temple. "All of it," he whispered. "I remember falling in love with you." He brushed his nose against hers again. "I remember Checkmate. And being terrified that I'd never see you again. I remember being at the hospital. And you not leaving my side." He tilted her head up a little, gazing into her eyes.

Chloe held his gaze and wrapped her arms as tightly as possible around him, her throat felt tight "you remember," she said quietly, not knowing what else to say, waiting until her brain processed what he was telling her.

He hugged her back just as tightly, burying his face against her hair. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you," she told him, turning her face and pressing her nose against his cheek, now he was really back, all of him, all they used to be, he remembered her, he remembered _them_.

He turned his head and kissed her, his eyes drifting shut. "I'm sorry I left you," he whispered after a moment.

She shook her head, lifting her free hand to wrap around the back of his neck as she spoke against his lips, "you didn't want to, you were trying to get out of there."

Oliver hugged her a little tighter. "I'm still sorry," he murmured. "I love you." He kissed her temple.

"Don't be," she told him, kissing his cheek then the corner of his mouth, "you're back, Ollie, all of you."

"And I'm not going anywhere again," he promised.

"I'm not letting you," she told him, brushing her nose against his, "you remember Matthew still?"

Oliver pulled away enough to look at her. "I remember. When can we tell him? Who I really am?"

"Whenever you're ready, he was asking about you all morning," she told him quietly.

He searched her eyes, then kissed her softly. "I want to tell Mia first."

Chloe smiled a little and nodded, watching him, "I'll go talk to Matthew while you tell her, how do you think we should tell him?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "What do you think?"

She took a deep breath and shook her head a little, "I'm not sure, whenever he asked about you, I always told him you couldn't be with us, but you would be if you could."

He swallowed hard, uncertainty in his eyes. "Is he going to hate me?"

"Ollie," she shook her head, "he's already so attached to you, he will love to know you're his dad."

"Even though I've been...away?"

"He's five years old, I don't think he will fully understand that you were gone." Chloe told him quietly, "not until he's older."

Oliver fell silent and looked toward the kitchen, then back at her. He stepped closer to her, kissing her softly. "All right."

She kissed him back and took a deep breath, smiling a little when she did, "thank you," she lifted the gift that she still had in her hand, "for the spoon."

A grin tugged at his lips. "No 'no gifts allowed' clause anymore?" There was a hint of teasing in his voice.

"Well, considering you gave me a miniature version of yourself, I think that'd would be a pretty silly rule to have," she grinned softly, squeezing his hand gently.

"We do look a lot alike, don't we?"

"A lot," she agreed quietly, smiling up at him, "especially his smile."

That made _him_ smile. "He has your eyes."

"The color," she nodded, "but they are shaped like yours."

"I still can't believe we have a son," he whispered.

Chloe smiled softly and nodded, "that's what I wanted to tell you," she admitted in a whisper, "before you left."

He swallowed hard, sliding his arms around her once more and pulling her close to him, resting one hand on the back of her head. "I wish I could rewind time," he whispered.

"No," she told him quietly, holding him to her too, "you're here now, we're not changing anything else."

"I love you," he murmured against her ear.

"I love you," she said quietly against his neck, "we have a lot to catch up on," she told him, pulling back after a long moment, "but Mia was as devastated as I was, and she needs to hear the good news."

He hugged her a little tighter for a moment, then nodded and reluctantly let her go. "I'll go talk to her."

"Okay," she pressed a kiss to his cheek, "your son wants to go to the beach," she told him as she reluctantly took a step back and toward the bedroom and called out for Matthew "we need to get him ready."

"We'll meet you there soon?" he offered.

"Works for me," she agreed, smiling softly before disappearing into the room Matthew was sleeping at.

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly as he watched Mia head into the living room a moment later. He gazed at her intently for a moment, then shook his head. "I missed a hell of a lot, didn't I?"

Mia raised an eyebrow and looked at him confused, "is that what you wanted to tell me?"

A smile tugged at his mouth. "You're still using the bow I gave you a few months into our training." He waited for her reaction.

"Well sometimes I use..." she paused and frowned, staring at him, "wait, how do you know that?"

Oliver's smile widened just a bit. "I gave it to you after you hit your first bullseye with it."

"Did... Chloe tell you that?"

He shook his head a little. "No, Mia."

Mia pursed her lips together and raised her eyebrows, watching him carefully.

"Thank you...for helping take care of Chloe and...my son." His voice was quiet and he took a step toward her. "I never wanted to leave any of you. You know that, right?"

She wrapped her arms around herself and stared up at him, "you remember?"

"I remember," he said softly. "All of it."

"Did Clark...?" She asked, cocking her head a little.

"I called him last night. We headed up north early this morning," Oliver admitted. "I couldn't keep on not knowing."

Mia stared a him for a moment then smiled a little, dropping her arms, "sneaky bastard."

A small smile touched his lips. "Your 'welcome back' could use a little work, but I'll take it."

She rolled her eyes and grinned a little, punching his shoulder, "so you're all back now?"

He grinned back. "All back now," he answered with a nod, hesitating a moment, then hugging her.

Mia stilled for a second then hugged him back tightly, "good to have you back."

Oliver smiled, closing his eyes for a moment, then pulling away to look at her. "Seriously. I'm really glad you stuck around, Mia."

"Well," she shrugged a little, "Chloe kinda dragged me back to the clock tower after the funeral and asked me to, I figured the least I could do was help her, she was a mess."

He gazed at her. "Yeah, I'm sure she was," he murmured.

"I figured the baby would need some help too." She admitted.

"Matthew loves you," he said softly, nodding.

"He's kinda like having a kid brother," Mia told him quietly, shrugging a little, "and he was the closest thing we had to you."

Oliver nodded a little once more, searching her eyes. "And you're all right?"

"Yeah," she told him, smiling a little then looking down before looking up at him again, "you're not going anywhere, right?"

A small smile touched his lips and he shook his head. "No. I'm staying with you guys."

"Good," she took a deep breath and smirked a little, "or I'd have to kick your ass."

"Which at this point--no doubt you could." He smirked back at her.

"Yeah, you're out of practice, old man." Her smirk widened.

He made a face. "I'm not _old_ , Kid."

"You should get ready, your kid wants to learn how to catch some waves," she told him, smirking.

"Why do you assume that just because I'm from California, I know how to surf?" Oliver smirked back.

"Who said anything about _you_ teaching him?" She grinned.

He lifted an eyebrow. "You know how to surf?"

"We've been in town for almost a month, I had to find something to do..." she shrugged a little, "met this guy who wanted to teach me, so I let him."

A small smile touched his lips. "Cool," he said quietly. "We're supposed to be meeting them at the beach so..."

"Yeah, let me go grab my flip-flops and I'll be ready," she told him, turning around and walking into the bedroom she had been staying at.

He watched her go, then smiled, looking toward the door.

* * *

"Where's Mia and Ollie and Aunt Lois?" Matthew asked, his hand in his mom's as they walked down the beach.

"Aunt Lois had to go to work," Chloe told him, shifting the oversized beach bag on her shoulder, "and Ollie and Mia will be here soon."

He smiled up at her, swinging their arms back and forth. "Mia told me she'd teach me to surf!"

She laughed softly and raised her eyebrows, "did she now?"

Matthew nodded eagerly, looking back toward their hotel. "Do you know how to surf?"

"I've never tried before," she told him, watching her son, "think Mia could teach me too?"

He nodded again, smiling brightly. "And Ollie too!"

"Well, Ollie grew up here," she told him, "maybe he already knows how to surf and he can help Mia teach us."

Matthew's eyes lit up. "Yeah?"

"Would you like that?" She asked, placing the bag on the floor by one of the umbrellas.

He nodded quickly. "Can he stay with us?"

Chloe sat down in the shade and smiled at him, "you like having him around, huh?"

"Yeah!" Matthew sat down beside her and laid his head against her shoulder. "Do you?"

She pulled him so he was sitting on her lap and nodded a little, kissing his forehead, "I like having him around a lot, and he really likes being around us."

He smiled. "That's good."

"Would it be okay with you if he started living with us?" She asked him, brushing his hair from his forehead.

Matthew's eyes widened a little. "Yeah!" he said excitedly. "I can teach him how to shoot an arrow!"

Chloe laughed and hugged Matthew tightly, kissing the top of his head, "I think he would love that."

"Who would love what?" Oliver asked as he and Mia joined them a moment later.

She looked up and smiled at Ollie, "Matthew wants to teach you how to shoot arrows."

A grin tugged at his lips. "Yeah, I'd like that a lot," he said softly, sitting down on the chair beside Chloe and looking at their son.

Matthew grinned at Oliver, "are you going to live with us?"

Oliver glanced at Chloe. "If that's all right with you."

"It's all right with both of us." She told him, smiling, "we both like having you around, don't we, kid?"

Matthew looked at his mom then nodded, looking at Ollie, "pleease?"

He reached out and ruffled Matthew's hair. "Yeah, I'd like that very much," he said softly, a smile on his face.

Mia grinned at the interaction and looked over at Ollie and Chloe, "I'm gonna go hit the water."

"Oh, can I come!?" Matthew asked excitedly.

"Well," Chloe glanced at Ollie, "is there something you wanna talk to Matthew about before he goes?"

He held his breath for a moment, then nodded slightly. "Yeah, I think so."

"We'll all go in together soon, okay?" Chloe asked Matthew.

He frowned a little at his mom then looked at Ollie, "am I in trouble?"

"No, not at all," Oliver assured him with a small, hesitant smile. He glanced at Chloe.

"You're not," Chloe assured him too, shifting him on her lap, "Matthew, do you remember when you asked me about your dad?" She asked him quietly.

Matthew nodded, raising his eyebrows, "you said he couldn't be with us."

Oliver gazed at him. "I wanted to be," he said softly.

Matthew frowned a little, looking at Ollie with wide eyes, " _you_ are my dad!?"

"Yeah, Champ. I am," he whispered.

He looked from Ollie to his mom.

Chloe smiled softly, "he is, baby, he had to be away for a long time, but he will always be with us now."

Oliver swallowed hard, holding his breath and gazing at Matthew. "I'm sorry I wasn't here before."

"Where were you?" He asked, confusion clear on the small boy's face as he turned to look at Ollie again.

He was quiet for a moment and he glanced at Chloe. "I was kind of lost," he said softly. "But now I've found my way home."

She smiled softly at Ollie and nodded a little.

"Like Hansel and Gretel?" Matthew asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Something like that, yeah." Oliver smiled at him, hesitantly holding his hand out.

He considered for a moment then smiled at Oliver and took his hand, "can I still teach you how to shoot an arrow?"

Oliver relaxed and squeezed his son's hand. "Yeah. You definitely can." He leaned over and pressed a kiss to the top of Matthew's head, then kissed Chloe's cheek.

Finally home.


	20. Distant Echoes

Title: Distant Echoes  
Authors: chloeas and dl_greenarrow  
Rated: R, eventually.  
Spoilers: An AU fic that takes place post season 9, we started writing it after Sacrifice aired so all the events after that are AU.  
Disclaimer: Not ours. Don't sue.

[One](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/664634.html) | [Two](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/672384.html) | [Three](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/678875.html) | [Four](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/684594.html) | [Five](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/689971.html) | [Six](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/692290.html) | [Seven](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/694140.html) | [Eight](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/697544.html) | [Nine](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/702109.html) | [Ten](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/708445.html) | [Eleven](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/711816.html) | [Twelve](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/717148.html) | [Thirteen](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/721563.html) | [Fourteen](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/727279.html) | [Fifteen](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/731118.html) | [Sixteen](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/738258.html) | [Seventeen](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/744120.html) | [Eighteen](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/749982.html) | [Nineteen](http://community.livejournal.com/chlollie/756512.html)

**December 2, 2016**

"Okay, it's time for cake!" Oliver announced, heading toward the mansion's kitchen, and grabbing several balled up pieces of gift wrap on the way. He shot Mia an amused smile as she followed him with the video camera. "Shouldn't you be staying with the birthday boy?"

"You weren't on the last five years of videotaped birthday parties," she pointed out.

He smiled at that. Originally he'd intended to be running the video camera but Mia had insisted that she would so he could actually be on the recording for a change. He wasn't surprised when Chloe had agreed with her.

He glanced at Chloe and winked at her before disappearing into the kitchen.

"You're doing a good job," Chloe told Mia quietly, smirking softly as she watched Oliver walking back into the kitchen, it had been a group decision to stay in Star City, they had renewed Oliver's parents mansion and moved in a couple of months later, after living in the penthouse for a while. It was like starting a new life for all of them. Besides, it was December and it was in the 60s, that was good enough reason for them to choose California over Kansas, despite Lois' complaints.

"Oh, good. Food. I'm starving," Lois complained, helping Matthew pick up his toys off the table to make room for the cake.

"You're always starving," Mia retorted, grinning as she caught Lois on tape.

"Are you sure you're not pregnant? You know Matthew could use a cousin... someone closer to him in age in the family," Chloe teased Lois.

 

At that, Lois smirked. "I'm positive. Plus, why have my own when I can just spoil yours and then leave town?" She batted her eyelashes playfully, then turned her head and glanced at Clark.

He squeezed her hand lightly. "I don't know. Might be fun for Matthew to have someone to play with." His voice was soft and he looked at Chloe.

"And I'm sure Dr. Hamilton could find a way around the technicalities," Chloe smirked a little at Lois then smiled softly at Clark, things had settled between the two of them, she had thanked him for helping Ollie and that had turned into a three hour conversation about, well, the past seven years or so and although they didn't interact much outside of birthdays, holidays and missions, it was a lot more comfortable than it had been in the past.

Oliver returned a moment later, carrying a very large chocolate sheet cake that was decorated with Robin Hood characters. There was a bright grin on his face as he set it down on the table.

"Robin Hood? Really?" Tess arched an eyebrow, a smirk on her face.

He smirked back at her. "It's his favorite," he informed her, ruffling Matthew's hair.

"And something Ollie loves to encourage," Chloe grinned.

"You can help me blow the candles, daddy," Matthew said, taking his dad's hand and grinning up at him.

Oliver smiled back at him, giving his hand a squeeze, then glancing at Chloe. "I think your mommy should help, too."

"She always helps," Matthew agreed with a nod and looked up at his mom, taking her hand too.

"Well, you have six candles now, that's a lot," she said, smiling down at him then at Ollie before picking Matthew up and setting him up on a chair so he could see over the table.

 

"It is a lot," Oliver agreed, smiling softly at Chloe, then at Matthew. "I think it's going to take all three of us."

"Okay," Chloe picked up a lighter and started lighting the candles, "Lo, can you get the lights?"

 

Lois moved over to the lightswitch on the far wall, twisting the knob and dimming the lights even as she began to the start of "Happy birthday."

Oliver reached out and squeezed Chloe's hand.

She smiled at him and sang along with everyone else then leaned in, kissing Ollie's cheek and whispering to his ear, "his best birthday yet."

"Somehow, I feels like it's mine," he whispered back.

Chloe grinned softly and nodded her agreement, "better than Christmas." Even if they still didn't know _how_ or _why_ Oliver was back, even if Batman or Dr. Hamilton still couldn't explain his mysterious reappearance, Chloe was done asking questions. He was there, with her, with _his family_ and that was all that mattered.

Oliver smiled back. "Definitely better," he whispered. And he had a feeling it would just keep getting better from now on.


End file.
